All Bets Off
by 2178577
Summary: When Cindy comes to Jimmy asking to be released from the terms of a bet, Jimmy begins to understand just how bad things are in the Vortex household. The fragility of teenage emotions are put to the test as the two maneuver some very adult situations. Libby, Carl and Sheen are featured in the story as well, but are more background characters.
1. After School Special

**Author's Note: Hello. Thank-you for reading my story. Please note that I have changed the title and first chapter names as it seems more catchy that way. Also, please bear in mind that this first chapter is between Jimmy and Cindy alone and that in the series, they have been known to be much kinder without an audience.**

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In retrospect, Cindy's reluctance to leave the deserted island full of creepy crawlies should have been Jimmy's first clue that things weren't so great for her at home. But hindsight is 20/20.

It was the second to last day of sixth grade when things became abundantly clear. Jimmy sat in his lab fiddling with a new invention: The Moodective 500. A small gun-shaped toy with a display screen. He turned the device around and aimed at himself.

 **'PROUD'** the screen read and underneath it, in smaller letters was **'excited.'** Beneath that, unbolded but there nonetheless was 'smug.' Jimmy frowned at that last one. Perhaps it needed some tinkering and more testing. As if one cue, his friendly rival/crush, Cindy could be seen on the security camera ahead.

He pushed a red lever to his right before she could even knock, opening a tunnel below her. She let out a yelp as she flew down, landing unceremoniously on her bottom.

"NEUTRON!"

"Vortex," he said devilishly, "perfect timing. Did you come here to properly congratulate me on our little bet?"

And, without so much as offering her a hand up, Jimmy turned the moodective on his friend and pulled the trigger.

 **TERRIFIED** **AFRAID** ANXIOUS Upset _Nervous sad_

Jimmy scratched his head. He had expected 'embarrassed' and maybe even 'humiliated.' 'Angry' was almost a given somewhere on the list, knowing Cindy, but certainly none of those heavy feelings - The moodective definitely needed some tinkering.

"J-jimmy," Cindy said, getting to her feet, "I know you won but, I can't say the things you wanted me to say at the assembly tomorrow…." She was conspicuously avoiding eye contact.

"Well then you shouldn't have made tha- did you just call me Jimmy?"

"Please," she said, her voice still shaky. Jimmy felt uneasy now. A closer inspection of the girl indicated that she really did look terrified. Her nose was red like she had been crying and her hair was a bit disheveled, with her ponytail barley still together. He remembered her fake tears during their sales contest and thought better. This was a ploy to get out of the bet.

"Cindy - a deal's a deal. I got the best grade on our term paper so you have to admit to the whole school that I'm smarter and all around better than you. And you have to wear the Neutron shirt!"

She was visibly shaking now, "If I do anything - and I mean ANYTHING - to embarrass my mom at that stupid assembly, she'll beat my ass!" The fake tears looked like they would be coming any minute.

"Oh please, Vortex. You made a bet and if you don't do it, I'll make things much worse and you know I can because as you're going to tell everyone, ~I ~ am ~ smarter ~ than ~ you," He teased her with an unflattering sing-songy voice.

"I'm not joking. She'll beat my ass."

"So you might get grounded. You should have thought of that when you made the bet."

"Grounded? You don't understand…." She scrunched her face in pain as she slipped her heavy backpack from her shoulders to the ground. It made a small thud.

Jimmy's eyes were immediately drawn to hand-shaped bruises on her arms. When he looked closer at her face, it seemed as if she'd put some eye-shadow underneath her left eye to mimic a black eye. A new low, even for her. Maybe the bet had gone too far if she was this desperate to weasel out of it. They were getting older and maybe she would get in considerable trouble for interrupting the awards ceremony just to sing his praises. But still pretending to be beaten? Annoyed, he stepped forward and pressed on the bruise to wipe it away. Cindy winced hard and stepped back.

"Ooh your acting skills have improved," he mocked but the look she gave him made him immediately regret it.

"You're smarter than me a-and cooler than me and all around better than me in every possible way. Everyone already knows you're the smartest kid in the country, let alone the school," she paraphrased the speech that was expected of her tomorrow and then gulped in some air and steadied herself. Her voice got very small as she bartered with him. "Look I'll do whatever horrible, awful, humiliating things you want, just please don't make it something my parents can find out about. . . . I'll ... I'll be your test subject for all your stupid experiments. I'll do all your art projects for the next year. Hell, YOU can beat me up if you want."

"You're serious."

"Please," she said again, this time bracing herself for him to hit her.

"I …. stop wincing like that! It's not cute and it's not funny. What would you do if I actually hit you instead of feeling guilty like you want me to?" He was irritated by the charade but she persisted.

"If it means tomorrow goes fine, you can hit me as hard as you want. I won't even try to block it…." She grabbed her both her arms and made an effort to hold them down but despite her best effort, she still pulled her face back in anticipation and took a step away from him.

Jimmy's heart fell into his stomach. Maybe this wasn't an act.

"Cindy, I'm not going to hit you." He stepped closer again. She tried to step back even further but hit the wall of his lab. He started examining her eye and she held her breath, avoiding eye contact as best she could. He gently grabbed her chin, making her face him. She squeezed her eyes shut. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the bad "costume makeup" was actually a poorly-done cover up. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the makeup clean, revealing a rather nasty black eye. Despite his best efforts to be gentle, he could tell that rubbing the makeup off caused the bruise to hurt. She wriggled back against the wall, causing the loose ponytail holder to fall out of her hair and onto the ground, letting blond strands fall around her face.

"Cindy…." He brushed her hair carefully behind her ears and she had no choice but to look at him as her eyes fluttered open.

"I…. um. So no hitting me but maybe one of the other things so I don't get in trouble?"

"Forget the bet. This is serious." It was then that he realized that he had her cornered against the wall. Their chests were pressed against each others now and he could feel that her heart was racing. She looked only slightly less frightened now that he'd forgiven the bet and she was holding back tears with so much effort now, it was visibly painful. He was forcibly holding her face toward him still - a great way to calm the poor girl down. He let her go and watched as she finally fully released her breath, clenching both hands to her chest, which heaved up and down as her body attempted to slow her heart down.

"Jimmy, I am serious. I really can't-" Jimmy cut her off with an aggravated sigh.

"I'm not going to make you do anything. But … hold on," Jimmy instructed as he searched. Cindy watched nervously as he pulled out another invention. This one was a simple tube. It looked kind of like the concealer stick Cindy had in her bag.

At the time, he had foolishly assumed that she wagered him crafting this invention as a way to become some sort of better bully without repercussion. It was clear now that the invention was for herself, as a way of hiding any 'incidents' at home.

Jimmy popped the lid off the concealer. "This won't hurt," he assured her, bringing the tube up to her eye and carefully applying a laser-like light over her bruise. It rapidly faded from black to yellow to pink to gone.

"There. Does your eye hurt at all anymore?"

"No. It feels better." Cindy checked her reflection in a compact mirror she withdrew from her bag. Her delicate fingers rubbed over the recently sore spot repeatedly. She couldn't believe it. In fact, she couldn't believe he had even bothered with her invention request at all. "I thought you knew you were going to win. Why did you make my invention anyway?"

"It was a good idea."

"Oh."

"And … you know I was only like 90% sure I'd win."

"Oh." It was uncomfortably silent again. Jimmy looked around, avoiding eye contact. What was he supposed to say to her when all he wanted to do was hold her? Looking at her now, she seemed less like his infuriating neighbor and more like someone he wanted to protect. It was a new feeling for him.

After what felt like forever, he cleared his throat and calmly asked, "Cindy, are you going to be okay?"

"Y-yeah. It's not like I'm some after school special. It . . . it was an accident."

"It doesn't look like it was an accident."

Cindy let out a heavy sigh, "she meant to hurt me, yeah. But she was a little drunk and -"

"Cindy - that's - " he couldn't finish the sentence because everything that came to mind sounded like scolding and that just seemed like a really mean thing to do right now.

"It was an accident," She insisted, "I kept backing away and I… I fell down the stairs. She tried to help me back up but she was drunk and she accidentally body checked me into the hall closet. The box was eye-level."

"If you go home now, is she going to be drunk?"

"No."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe. But I have to go home or I'll be in trouble."

He couldn't think of a way to stop her, so he moved to let her out of the lab. He'd let her take the stairs instead of the funnel this time. It was the least he could do.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes?"

"Thank-you." She hugged him, catching him off guard. She squeezed him very tight, forcing him to inhale strands of hair that crashed into his face. She smelled nice.

He felt guilty for focusing on that.


	2. Saving Face

**Author's note: Thank-you to those who followed and reviewed this story. It made me feel really good to get readers the same day I posted. Normally, it seems like my stories go forever without reviews. Anyway, I tried to keep the story true to the characters and universe while also maturing it up to the level that is needed to do a hurt/comfort fic. A lot of stories seem to get super extreme when dealing with touchy subjects. Please enjoy :)**

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Jimmy slouched back into his computer chair after she left, sitting in stunned silence for a long while. Despite what she said, the whole thing sort of did feel like one of those PSA skits the kids were made to watch in health class. This was way out of his territory.

The following morning, the entire 6th grade was gathered in the gymnasium. Schedules for the following year were handed out and the children excitedly compared classes with one another. This would be the first year that the students had class periods in preparation for high school in two years.

Jimmy was not surprised to learn that neither of his best friends would be sharing many classes with him. As much as he liked Sheen and Carl, they weren't exactly bright. Getting a gym class together was the best he could have hoped for.

He spotted her the moment she entered the gym. Beside her were Libby and Brittany, who were much chattier today than Cindy was. He couldn't make out what she was thinking and wished he had his moodective with him. The girls made their way over toward Jimmy and his friends.

"Hey Jimmy," Libby said, "Go easy on my girl, alright? You only beat her by a few points."

"What?"

"Oh don't pretend you aren't all excited to make her look like an ass in front of the whole school," Libby said with trademark sass. Jimmy's head reeled for a few seconds before realizing that Cindy must not have told Libby anything about the night before. He wondered if Libby knew anything at all about Cindy's situation.

"Ummm," Cindy muttered, forgetting just how many witnesses their bet had had.

Thinking fast, Jimmy responded, "Ah. We made … um other ah… arrangements," but unfortunately for him, the way he said arrangements sounded quite suggestive, causing the other two girls to join in on teasing the pair.

"Ooooo," Brittany chimed in, "Jimmy and Cindy, sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Libby giggled.

Cindy and Jimmy both turned red before shouting in unison "Not those kind of arrangements!"

Libby and Brittany continued to laugh. Carl, who wasn't paying attention, joined in.

"You know with the way you two fight, it's a miracle you haven't already hooked up," Brittany said, earning her a glare from Cindy. Finding this even more amusing she added, "your babies will be smart AND obnoxious."

"Ugh, Cindy, can't you get your friends to be less weird?"

"Ooh, ohh! Can I be the flower girl at your wedding?" Sheen asked, clasping his hands together and batting his eyes. Cindy shoved him out of her personal space.

"No fair, I already called dibs. I look great in a dress," Carl said.

"My friends aren't the weird ones," Cindy said, "What is wrong with those two?"

"It's called character, Cindy."

"Oh, is THAT what they are calling it these days?" She quipped.

"I'll have you know that-"

"Just kiss each other or shut up already!" the others shouted in unison.

"Me? Kiss Neutron? No way, I'd rather -"

"You don't have to worry, Cindy, I'd never wanna kiss you," he said, poking a finger in her collar bones, wholly unconvincing as his eyes darted to her lips.

"Yeah well the feeling's mutual, brain breath. I definitely don't want to kiss yo-"

"We get it. You can't stand each other almost as much as we can't stand this bickering," Libby interjected.

"Well, you're the one who brought it up-"

"Whatever you say," Libby added, and seeing her friend's crimson blush, mercifully change the subject, "Hey, Sheen."

Sheen waved awkwardly at her. Dorky, but cute.

"Let me see your schedule. I'm hoping to find someone I have some classes with. Miss brainiac over there is taking a bunch of honors classes and I'm buggin'." Sheen simply smiled and blinked as Libby snatched his schedule from his hands.

With the schedule swapping taking the focus off of them, Cindy pulled Jimmy aside. Both their cheeks were still pink and warm from their argument.

"Neutron, I thought you said I was off the hook with this whole bet thing…."

"You are," he whispered doing a quick scan to make sure their conversation was unheard, "But my reputation isn't. We'll just tell people you agreed to be the test subject for one of my experiments. And that way nobody will question it." It wasn't actually what he had planned, but it was the perfect idea.

"Oh, yeah. That's smart."

"Yeah, well I am the smart one," Jimmy teased, trying to sound as normal as possible. If she detected pity on him, she'd probably yell at him or worse, get all sad again. He definitely didn't want that.

Cindy looked around to see if anyone was watching them now but nobody was.

"You know, if you want, you can actually test the latest …. whatever on me. It's the least I could do for … you know."

Jimmy smirked at her. She was rubbing her foot in the ground and avoiding his gaze. It was kind of cute and if he wasn't mistaken, the body language was a little flirtatious. It occurred to him that taking her up on that offer meant having her in his lab, alone. Plus, she'd do whatever he wanted. The smirk grew until he had a dopey grin on his face but she didn't notice.

"It beats sitting at home…" she whispered hopefully, making him realize that he was just staring at her without saying anything. He felt that uncomfortable pity for her again, making efforts not to show it on his face.

"Right. Well. . . I could use someone with a little more intelligence to test some of my new gadgets on. It'd be the perfect start to the summer. Alright, Vortex. You're hired!" He smiled, offering her a hand for a business-like handshake.

"Nerd," she said, bypassing his handshake and punching his shoulder. It was like many of their exchanges, except that this time, the punch had no force behind it. She smiled back at him.

Their conversation was brought to a close by the principal's boom voicing telling all the 6th graders to take their seats and prepare for the awards ceremony. Parents began filing in, taking seats in the bleachers, many holding balloons, flowers and cameras. The 8th grade cheer squad bounced in from the locker rooms and music started playing as the girls clapped and danced. It was a bit much considering their classes wouldn't even been in a new building, just a different wing.

Jimmy cautiously eyed Cindy's parents as they took seats among the audience. Her mom didn't look any different than she always had. Neither did her dad. Jimmy wasn't sure why he had expected them to suddenly look like villains but he /had/ expected that. The two were bickering a bit, in a hushed manner. But, now that he thought about it, they always did. It occurred to him that Cindy's dad might not even be aware of what had happened between his daughter and wife.

He saw his own parents not too far away, blissfully unaware. His dad sported a goofy grin and waved animatedly. They had balloons and among the bunch was a comically large duck. Jimmy waved back with a smile. His mom looked slightly embarrassed, no doubt by the duck balloon. Another parent complained loudly about the view and she shielded her face a little.

The rest of the ceremony was unremarkable. Afterwards, the new 'graduates' gathered for punch and cake.

"So, what shall we do with our new found freedom this summer?" Sheen asked.

"I say we adopt a Llama, and feed the Llama and pet the Llama and love the Llama -"

"Carl will you shut up? You are being Ultra-UNCOOL!"

"I am not. Llamas are very cool. Aren't they Jimmy?"

"Jimmy?"

"Earth to Jimmy - earth to Jimmy - This is your Ultra-friend saying EARTH to-" And then without warning, Sheen decided to smack the back of Jimmy's head.

"Sheen! What the hell?" Jimmy rubbed the back of his head.

"Jimmy - you are the genius, we need your help in planning our supercool summer."

"Sheen, don't you have to take summer classes?"

"I was hoping you'd take them for me," he said mouthing the word 'duh.'

"I'm not going to help you cheat. It's best to just learn the material the old fashion way. Through study and careful consideration, Sheen. Intellectual integrity is the cornerstone of civilization and-"

"Bor-ing! Besides, Jimmy, weren't you the one who suggested that we chew our books instead of reading them? That doesn't seem at all like the drinks my father likes…."

"Sheen, you're a genius! Well, I'm a genius," he said smugly, "but you have great taste in friends. I'd love to try a textbook gum..."

"Are you sure about my great taste in friends?" Sheen asked, pointing to Carl who was now talking to a stuffed Llama.

"Uhh…" But, Jimmy was saved by his approaching parents, who were joined by Carl's parents and Sheen's dad.

"Jimbo," Hugh laid a hearty slap on his son's back, "We're proud of you son."

"Thanks, Dad," Jimmy said with a smile.

"Hi, Judy," Carl waved with a wink. Jimmy's mom gave him an uncomfortable smile.

"Let's go home guys. I've got some science to do! To the- "

"Lab!" All three boys shouted together.


	3. Sweet Nothing

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, favorites & follows. This chapter took a bit longer to write as I wasn't 100% sure where I wanted to go with this. Anyway, please let me know what you like (and don't like!). **

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It wasn't until the 4th of July that Jimmy saw Cindy again. After rushing to the lab and working on various versions of text-book gum, Jimmy had hit a happy medium with a peppermint flavored piece that helped Sheen understand the concept of fractions and percentages, as well as long division and a few other key topics.

The gum had not be a total failure but it had not been a total success either, by Jimmy's account. But anything stronger than a text containing the basics was just too much too soon for Sheen. The result was that Sheen still spent a lot of the summer doing school work and not a lot of time having fun.

This left Jimmy with a lot of time to stare at the empty Vortex house between entertaining Carl and tutoring Sheen. Day long adventures were simply out of the question. After the assembly, Jimmy had been in such a rush to work on his new invention that he didn't even get to say goodbye to Cindy. By the time the boys emerged from the lab, it was pretty late. But there were no lights on across the street and no car in the driveway. It stayed that way for over a month. Jimmy had texted Cindy a several times with no reply which made him even more obsessed with figuring out what happened. He considered trying to track the family down using an invention but that seemed desperate.

At one point, he managed to run into Libby at The Candy Bar. She didn't really seem to have much more information other than that Cindy's family was on vacation and that Libby was pissed off that Cindy didn't tell her until _after_ her family left. And she know didn't when they'd be back but she'd let him know when she knew.

So, Jimmy simply watched the house hopefully when he thought no one was paying attention. Sheen's predicament gave Jimmy an excuse to explain his melancholic mood but it was really Cindy's company that he was missing. Even when Sheen, Carl and Libby all had the holiday free to hang out, he still didn't seem that thrilled. There was going to be a large block party with food, music and special Neutron fireworks. Jimmy's friends were surprised the town was allowing it considering the costly damage that some of his other inventions had caused.

"Jimmy, what's wrong?" Carl asked.

"Hmm? Nothing, just making the final tweaks to my new fireworks. I'm going to set them off at the display tonight. Gotta be perfect," Jimmy explained as he struggled with the supplies in front of him.

"I invited Brittney, Nick and some of the others," Libby added, "I cannot wait until the party tonight. They're even getting desserts from The Candy Bar."

"Oooh," Carl chimed in, "I hope they have stuff without peanuts."

"Blast it! What in Einstein's name is wrong with -" The group made a large uniform step back, half expecting the fireworks to explode like several of the other batches had.

But instead the fireworks emitted a very putrid sweat smell laced with cheap perfume.

"Ugh! It smells like the cloud of gunk coming from the boy's locker room at the end of the day," Libby complained through pinched nose.

"I kind of like it," Carl said earning a grimace from Sheen and Libby.

Jimmy used the utility fan from his watch to disperse the smell quickly. "I'll get this figured out before nighttime. Why don't you guys help set up the food and I'll work on these." The group was glad for an excuse to leave the stinky backyard.

Libby lingered behind after the boys walked out of earshot to talk to Jimmy in private.

"She should be back tonight."

"Who?" Jimmy said, feigning disinterest.

Libby rolled her eyes, "You know who. _You're_ the one who asked about her. Isn't that why you're making her these fireworks?"

"These fireworks are for science, not any _girls_."

"Hmmm. Riiiight. Anyway, I haven't heard anything today but they should be on the road. So you know."

About two hours passed and Jimmy felt that he had finally nailed the flower-works: flower-scented fireworks that would form into various bouquets. He came around front to find most of the neighbors putting up decorations and shooing flies from large tables full of delicious treats. Libby had a sound system set up with the latest tunes playing.

It was then that he saw van pull into her driveway and in the moment, he made no efforts to maintain any type of aloof composure. He practically tackled her as she exited the car.

"Oh, hello James," Cindy's mom said coldly. She seemed annoyed.

"Hi Cindy! Uh, Hi Mr. and Mrs. Vortex," the last part was definitely strained.

"Hi." The shy smile that formed on Cindy's face was adorable but out of character. Cindy looked positively pale making Jimmy wonder where the family's vacation had been. She was also sporting an out of season jacket.

"Uh, how are you? Where did you guys go? I really missed um … uh .. I mean CARL has missed you," Jimmy said, feeling embarrassed at his eagerness. His cover was not very believable.

"I'm pretty sure Carl hates me," Cindy said.

"I don't hate you Cindy," Carl said, finally reaching the two and clearly out of breath from the trek down the road, "I'm scared that you'll hit me really hard and I'll have an asthma attack. There's a difference. Jimmy is the one-" Jimmy slapped Carl's back really hard and he wheezed a bit, unable to finish his thoughts as he reached for his inhaler.

"Semantics, semantics! Are you free? I'm showcasing a new invention tonight."

"Uh… well," Cindy looked to her mom and then to the party forming around them.

Mrs. Vortex's expression softened, "Of course you can dear. I'm sure you have lots to catch up on with your little friends what with our _wonderful_ time in Hawaii. But do remember our little talk," her face turned stern for the last part before shifting back into a forced smile.

"Well, I guess I have nothing better to do so …" Cindy said but Jimmy had already grabbed her arm and had her halfway across the street before she got the last word out, Carl trying to keep up behind them.

As soon as Cindy's parents had gone inside, Cindy broke free from Jimmy's grasp.

"What's your deal Neutron?" She no longer seemed skittish or shy but rather annoyed.

"What?"

"Why are you so excited to see me? You haven't talked to me since the end of school."

"What? You haven't talked to _me,_ " Jimmy said.

"Um yeah I did. I mean it's not like I'm going to text you everyday or that I'd even want to but I mean you could respond when I say 'hi'. It's rude!"

"And I would have if you had ever responded to me when I said 'hi!' You were the one that was rude!"

"Ugh you're so full of yourself! I'm not going to try to start a conversation with you more than once without a response. I have plenty of friends. I don't need-"

"I texted you 28 times!" Jimmy screamed, matching up perfectly with the silence between a change in songs. Several kids turned to face the two causing them both to turn a nice shade of red. It was the most color she'd gotten all summer. Jimmy glared at Cindy as she rolled her eyes, mouthing "liar" at him. At that moment, he really wished he had lied about the frequency because saying it out loud made him sound much creepier than he intended.

"Cindy!" Libby called, switching her DJ table to 'auto' and running over. Thankfully, the music grabbed the crowd's attention and they quickly went back to dancing, eating and gossiping.

"Libby," Cindy said, "How are you? I've missed you. My mom wouldn't let me talk on the phone during the drive back."

"Missed you too girl. You know you never said where you guys went."

"Hawaii. It was a lot of fun. The whole family went," Cindy replied in an almost robotic way.

"Hawaii? Girl you look hella white. Did you even go to the beach? You've usually got a nice tan by now."

"I wore sunscreen," she gritted through her teeth, clearly uncomfortable. Jimmy wasn't buying any of it. Libby wasn't convinced either but did a better job at feigning belief for Cindy's sake.

"Sounds fun Cindy. I'm glad you are back. We've got a lot to catch up on -"

"No way you were in Hawaii," Jimmy said loudly causing Libby to jab him in the stomach, making him wince. "What was that for?"

"Don't be rude, Jimmy," Libby said looking him in the eyes and then looking back to Cindy's house where her parents had now emerged and were heading their way. She turned to Jimmy a second time and made an effort to stare back at Cindy's parents again before giving Jimmy a final look of concern and firmly stating, "let's all get some ice cream." Jimmy decided to drop it for the moment.

Each of the kids took an ice cream cone from Sam, who was manning a portable freezer. Carl took two ice cream cones. The kids enjoyed them in silence for several minutes. Cindy was especially enjoying her ice cream, greedily licking the toppled scoops. It was the first cone she'd had all summer. Her joy quickly turned to confusion when she went for another lick and found that the ice cream cone was no longer in her grips.

"Cynthia Vortex!" Her mom scolded holding the ice cream cone out of Cindy's reach, "What did I tell you about sweets like these?"

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Oh no. You are going to tell me the answer to what I asked. _What did I tell you_?"

Cindy left out a defeated sigh before giving an embarrassed glance at her friends and turning away.

"You told me not to have them."

"And why did I tell you not the have them?"

"Really mom?"

"Cynthia!"

Cindy looked straight not and quietly whispered, "because I'll get fat."

"That's right, Cynthia. And fat girls don't make pretty cheerleaders do they?"

"No ma'am."

"That's right. Now if you must have sweets, take this," Mrs. Vortex said before shoving a half-empty diet coke in the girl's hands and promptly heading over to another adult to make casual conversation as if she hadn't just completely humiliated her daughter, dumping the frosty treat toward the trash. The cone missed the garbage can, falling instead on the hot asphalt into a melted puddle of disappointment.

Jimmy couldn't believe what had happened. He took a good look at Cindy, trying to see if she had gotten any bigger. The jacket made it hard to judge her upper half but as his eyes moved down to her legs, he carefully observed the shapely curve of her calves that rose from dainty ankles. His eyes moved up to her thighs, which too seemed small but curvaceous. He supposed she looked somewhat more like a woman than she had before but she was definitely not overweight. With her back turned away from them all, he found his gaze lingering on her bottom. Definitely nothing wrong with that part of her. He was thankful no one could read his thoughts.

Jimmy made a a step forward in effort to go comfort Cindy but Libby grabbed his arm and simply shook her head.

"You go ahead, let me handle this," Libby instructed, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence that had grown between the group.

"But -"

"She'll respond better if I'm comforting her." Libby was right. He let the girls go watching uneasily as Libby flung an arm around Cindy's shaking shoulders. Carl shoved the final bits of his second ice cream cone into his mouth with a contented sigh, apparently having missed the entire ordeal.


	4. Flower-works

**A/N: Thank-you for all the reviews, especially Cutie5 who has given very detailed feedback. I actually wrote this chapter before the previous one and then it took me forever to fill in the before scene. Just polished this up so I am hoping to not have to re-upload this like 10 times to fix typos but you never know. Anyway, enjoy! :)**

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Libby found him when the sun was setting. They'd be setting off his fireworks soon at the park near Jimmy's street. She caught him just in time.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes?"

"Did you really text her 28 times?"

"Well… I mean it's not like I counted them. I may have exaggerated a little bit." He avoided looking her in the eyes as he lied. Why did he have to give such a specific number?

"Wow. You must _really_ like her," Libby responded smiling.

"Well, I mean I'd do the same for Sheen or Carl or even you. We're all friends."

She laughed. "No, you wouldn't."

Silence. The two stared each other down. Knowing that he would not fool her, he caved, "No, I wouldn't."

"Look, during their trip-"

"To Hawaii," he added sarcastically, throwing his hands up into an exaggerated gesture.

Libby's armed folded and she let out an irritated sigh, "Obviously not Hawaii. But equally obvious is that her parents told her that's where she was to say they went. So maybe we just I dunno let her have that instead of trying to make things difficult for her?"

"Ooh."

"You're kind of dense sometimes."

"I …"

"It's not important," she said, waving his response off, "look, she didn't exactly have her phone on her most of the time. And every time she called me - and it wasn't often that she got to call me - she always seemed so disappointed that _you_ hadn't messaged her. So, unless you are lying, I'm assuming that your texts got deleted. She thinks that you didn't even notice she was gone-"

"Of course I noticed! She literally lives across the street. How could I not notice?"

"Bigger fish, Jimmy," She said with an impatient foot tap.

"Okay. So why are you telling me this?"

"28 times?"

"I may have exaggerated-"

"No, you didn't." Another laugh escaped her lips earning a bashful smile from the boy.

He sighed, "No, I didn't."

"You really like her."

"I….. okay, yes, I really like her. Happy?" he said, deciding that Libby would not be convinced otherwise. Libby relaxed her stance and gave him another genuine smile.

"Very happy. That's why I'm telling you all this. Sheen asked me to watch the fireworks with him and I told him I would before I knew Cindy would be back. I'm counting on you," she said pointing at him, "to make sure she doesn't watch them alone. She's sitting by the large oak tree in the back," her hand moved to point to a tree beneath which Cindy sat.

"Okay," He said before turning to head to Cindy.

"And Jimmy? One more thing."

"Yes?" He asked, turning back to her.

"Don't hurt my best friend, even if she tries to pick a fight with you. Be the bigger person. I don't think she's got it in her so just ... act like you like her. It shouldn't be that hard if it's the truth."

"I won't hurt her," he promised, not entirely sure he could keep that promise.

"Good."

* * *

Cindy never looked as small as she did curled up beneath the enormous oak tree. She still had on that ridiculous jacket and Jimmy wondered how she had managed to keep it on through all the heat. Her knees were tucked carefully to her chest. Her face was slightly red particularly around her eyes and the tip of her nose. She had been crying at some point but must have stopped a while ago.

"Is this seat taken?" He said, keeping his tone light and playful.

"Hmm. I dunno. I _guess_ there's room for two here," she said, eyeing the spacious area around her. He was relieved to see her spirits had lifted enough to bring back her snark and sat as close to her as he dared.

"Cindy," he started but was unable to get anything else out.

"Jimmy, I'm sorry," she interrupted. This was a surprising turn of conversation.

She waited a few moments before continuing, "I talked to my dad. He disabled my text messaging. So, it must have seemed like I was ignoring you. And since I never got your messages, I got mad for no real reason because you weren't actually ignoring me."

"Well, then I better be sorry too."

"Why?"

"Because it must have seemed like _I_ was ignoring _you_. And you didn't ignore me either so I guess I got mad for no real reason too."

"I guess that's true," she said, turning to face him.

"Friends?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling softly. Her lips pursed for a moment as something dawned on her. "So... 28 times? You counted?"

"Why is everybody so fixated on that?!" He yelled but maintaining an illusion of anger was difficult when he saw that she was laughing. His scowl fell into a shy smile as he watched her finally start to enjoy herself. It was a shame that he was about to ruin it.

"Cindy, I have to ask you something."

Her smile instantly vanished, anticipating all the sorts of things he might ask her. "Yeah?"

"How are you wearing a fall jacket? It's gotta be like almost 80 degrees."

"It was hot in Hawaii. I'm not used to the temperature drop," she said back as though she were reading a script. Even she knew that it wasn't convincing.

"That's bullshit Cindy. You told Libby you couldn't chat on the ride home. You don't _drive_ back from Hawaii. And you certainly don't maintain a perfect porcelain complexion under the rays of a tropical island, either." Cindy couldn't help but smile at the accidental compliment. He was trying very hard to sound serious but not mad.

"Oh, fine. You just can't let things go huh? We came back from Florida. My mom thought Hawaii made us sound richer and less like 'white trash,' " Cindy explained adding a set of sarcastic quotes around the words 'white trash.'

"But Florida's sunny too," he said.

"I know. Hence the jacket."

"What?"

"It's to hide my tan," she explained, which made him start laughing. She let out a sigh, knowing that what would come next would probably ruin the mood. She unzipped the jacket and removed it, revealing a patch of even paler skin, forming an incredibly faint but clearly noticeable tan line on her right arm, where the blond arm hairs were suspiciously missing. It was obvious that, for weeks, Cindy had been wearing a cast on that arm. Jimmy shut up immediately.

"Don't ask because I'm not in the mood to answer." He decided to oblige for now.

The first crack of fireworks saved them from any awkward silences. A large display of purple sparkles shaped into lilacs formed in the sky. Jimmy studied the girl's face waiting for her reaction. Cindy sighed contentedly; the flowers were very pretty. But then, as she breathed in again, an inquisitive look formed on her face. She took another breath and then another sniffing the air between them.

"It smells like . . . flowers?"

"Flower-works," Jimmy said, gesturing toward an invisible product display, "A Neutron original creation. Out of your gardens and into your skies!"

She started to laugh at his ridiculous expression before coming to a realization. "Hey! This was my 4th grade invention project! You took my idea!" Her accusations had more of a teasing quality than anger.

"It was a good idea," he said, parroting his words from the fateful black-eye night.

"So you admit it. I _do_ have good ideas. And you sometimes _take them_ ," she gave a flirtatious pout.

"Guilty as charged. You're my muse, Cindy," he said admitting more than he intended. Not visible to her, his cheeks flushed at the confession. She giggled uncomfortably at his words and unconsciously scooted a little closer.

"You know," she said placing a finger to her lips in contemplation, "Lilacs are my favorite flower."

Deciding that further boldness would be well received, he placed his arm around her, closing the remaining distance between the two. "I _did_ know," he whispered in her ear sending shivers down her spine.

Cindy was speechless and it made Jimmy suppose that miracles really were possible.

They watched the rest of the show in tense but happy silence. And when it finally started to get chilly, she snuggled further into his embrace rather than put her jacket back on. The display was truly impressive. It had every flower you could think of: roses, lilies, lavender accents, daisies, sunflowers and, of course, more lilacs. He was glad she favored such a fragrant flower. It made that particular firework more impressive.

After the show, they decided to make the short walk back to their block together. She had slipped her jacket back on and the two walked with a comfortable distance between them. He couldn't think of anything to say but she didn't seem to mind. With the smell of summer in the air and the glow of a nearly full moon, he felt drunk off the entire night.

It had gone much better than planned. After all, just last night he was positive she was going to miss the flower-works display even though she was the only reason he'd bothered with the project. They reached home sooner than he'd have liked.

"I'm glad you're back," Jimmy said as the two of them stood in the stretch of road between their houses.

"Me too."

"Well, um, good night?" He said lamely, having lost the courage he had earlier.

"Goodnight Jimmy," she said, "I had a lot of fun tonight."

"Me too." They exchanged a nervous look. This would have been when they would kiss, if only the two hadn't been so afraid to make another move. Sasha's arrival robbed them of the chance.

"Cindy, let's go home."

"Yes, mom."

"Nice fireworks, James."

"Oh. Thank-you?"

"Nice to see you make something that entertains the town rather than destroys it." Of course it wasn't a real compliment.

"Thanks, Mrs. Vortex," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Say goodnight to your friend, Cindy."

"Good night, Jimmy!" Cindy said with an unnatural pep.

"Good night, Cindy."

Jimmy watched in disbelief as Cindy's mom placed an arm gingerly around her daughter's shoulders.

"Did you have fun with your friends tonight sweetie?"

"Yes, I did."

"I'm glad." She placed a kiss on top of Cindy's head as she led her daughter inside their house. Jimmy simply stared at the house across from his unsure of how to process what he'd just watched.


	5. Appearances

**A/N: So this chapter just kind of wrote itself. There's not much action in it but I feel that it helps paint the mood a little better. Also, shout-out to the reviewers from last chapter. You guys are the best! I am not 100% I if I will get up chapter 6 before Sunday as it still needs a lot of work.** **Please read & review. And of course, enjoy! **

* * *

In Jimmy's imagination, Cindy's mom was beating her senseless behind the closed door, dropping her fake act of affection the instant they vanished from view. The truth was more complicated and, in some ways, more dangerous.

"Thank-you Cindy," Sasha said, referring to Cindy's re-donned jacket as the two women entered the house. Cindy nodded. "It's just easier than having to go through all sorts of explanations about that arm. Your father is a good man."

"I know, Mom."

"You've handled this very well. You are growing up to be quite the young lady." Sasha's normally hard face was unusually soft as she looked at her daughter.

"Thanks," Cindy said unable to help the smile that formed across her lips. She craved moments like this.

"And I _am_ sorry," She said quietly, "About this afternoon. But you know I'm just looking out for you?"

"I know. I just wish maybe you'd not do it in front of my friends," Cindy murmured. She was hoping her mom wouldn't bring the ice cream incident up.

"I'm sure they've forgotten it by now. You've got potential, Cindy. And that is why I fight you on these things. High school is an important time in your life and what you do leading up to those years is just as important. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now, you've already had a treat today with that ice cream," Sasha said firmly, "so you can't have any until tomorrow but - there's sugar free pudding in the fridge for you."

"Thanks."

"I love you, Cindy," she said.

"Love you too mom." It would makes things so much easier for the girl if the words had been a lie. But they weren't.

"Now get to bed. You've got to be up early for yoga tomorrow," she said, playfully shooing Cindy up the stairs.

"Yes ma'am," Cindy said with a fake salute. The two shared a rare laugh.

* * *

Jimmy eyed the Vortex house carefully from his bedroom the following morning. He noted when Mr. Vortex opened the garage door at the crack of dawn and started working on his vintage car, a black '69 mustang. The car looked to be in awful shape. Jimmy's own parents were still peacefully asleep down the hall, evidenced by the sound of his father snoring and a lack of his mother complaining about said snoring.

He watched as Sasha and Cindy emerged from the garage an hour later, greeting Mr. Vortex with happy hugs and kisses. Cindy was smiling and her mother seemed to be in good spirits, both sporting matching long-sleeved spandex tops and tight yoga shorts. It was an odd combo of warm and cool weather clothes. But other than that, things looked normal.

The image did not match up with the nightmare he had played over and over in his head of a big, disastrous fight between the two of them, the kind that resulted in children breaking their arms. He studied the scene for clues that such a fight had happened but found none. Cindy bounced happily from a hug with her dad into the passenger seat of the family van. Her parents shared a sweet kiss before Cindy's mom got behind the wheel. Jimmy wondered where they might be going.

Growing bored with her father's car work, Jimmy found himself falling back asleep, only be awoken again when the mother/daughter combo returned. They looked just as chummy as they were when they'd left. The only difference was that both women were drenched in sweat and carrying water bottles.

"James Neutron! Time for breakfast!" His mother called cheerfully from behind his closed door. Jimmy rolled over to his unset alarm clock and saw that it read '11:00 AM.' The best part of this summer was the lazy mornings. "Come on sweetheart! Can't sleep all day!" She said, giving a few extra knocks.

"I'll be down in a minute mom!" He yelled back, getting out of his bed and moving toward the closet. It was time to start the day.

Jimmy came down stairs to a feast of food: pancakes, waffles, hash browns, eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, milk, and orange juice (from a carton and not a juicer – all inventions were strictly banned from the kitchen after the OJ incident.)

"Wow, Mom, this looks great!"

"Come, get a plate. Growing boys need their protein." He was more than happy to oblige as he piled up his plate until it nearly collapsed from the weight.

"Morning sleepy-head," Hugh said, beaming at his son.

"Morning, Dad." Jimmy held back a smirk as he watched his father gently place his duck-shaped pancakes into the 'pond' of syrup.

 _That had to be a lot of sugar_ , Jimmy thought. It was that particular thought that drew him back to Cindy as her hurt face materialized in his mind along with the sad image of the overturned ice cream cone melting on the street. All of that was yesterday, Jimmy noted. And yet, this morning, Cindy and her mom appeared to be the best of buds. _How could she just forgive that? What kind of mom badgered her daughter about being fat? Especially a girl with such a perfect body like Cindy_. And the cycle of emotions for the morning had come full circle as he found himself fighting a blush.

"You alright, Jimmy?" His mom asked, placing a hand on his forehead, "You're all warm!"

"Huh? Oh. It's just warm in here," he offered.

"I better get that A/C on then, shouldn't I?"

"Thanks." Jimmy moved his fork toward the overflowing plate of breakfast. He felt guilty eating so much when it was clear that meals were heavily restricted just across the street.

"Are you sure you're alright? You've barely touched your hash browns and I know how much you love those."

"Yeah, I'm great."

"Alright, dear. But do tell us if you aren't feeling well. I don't care how much fun your projects are, if you are sick, you need to get some rest," Mrs. Neutron said with a stern finger pointed at her son.

"Of course," Jimmy said.

"You're mother's right dear. Better eat up."

"Oh, Hugh, look at your example! You've been playing with those pancakes for nearly 30 minutes already," she fussed.

Hugh let out a characteristic chuckle, "I can't help it, they're just so darn cute! I love ducks…"

"Hey, Mom, Dad?"

"Yes son?"

"Thanks. You know for breakfast. It looks great."

"You already said that sweetheart. But you are very welcome."

"Yeah but _thanks_. You know I don't say it enough. I'm glad I have you."

"And we're glad to have such a sweet and smart son," Judy said, planting a kiss on his cheek. Jimmy scrunched his face at the affection as Hugh patted him on the back.

"I couldn't be prouder of you if you were a duck farmer." The three of them shared a laugh and Hugh finally bit down on a soppy duck pancake.

Jimmy made his way outside after finishing his plate. By the time his Dad had started the dishes, his parents were already making nauseating kissing faces. It was not something he cared to watch.

* * *

After a long and well deserved shower, Cindy tossed her clothes from hot yoga into the hamper. A load of laundry would need to be done before then next session in two days, she noted. Cindy was still clad in a just a towel, examining the contents of her closet with precision. Selecting the perfect outfit was the key to a good day.

Her blinds were not shut all the way and Jimmy could see her from outside his house. It was the second time that day that he caught himself having less than savory thoughts about his friend. Her wet hair was carefully curled up in a second towel, revealing her neck, which Jimmy found to be a fascinating site though he didn't understand why. He followed the curves of her body, noting the sharp indent of her waist. Even though the towel technically covered her body, he did feel a little guilty watching her. Just not enough to _stop_ watching her.

"What are you doing lover boy?" Libby asked him, hand on her hip.

"I'm uh… erm well, you see…." She cocked her eyebrows as she watched him flounder. A few more unintelligible syllables escaped his mouth before finally stating, "I'm waiting for Carl."

Libby got ready to lecture him but thankfully for Jimmy, Carl _was_ walking up the street.

"You're late Carl!" Jimmy announced.

"But … late? Jimmy I'm a boy."

"What?"

"I –" Jimmy grabbed his friend and dragged him to the lab before he would have further opportunity to make an ass of himself. Deciding to let it go, Libby entered the Vortex house and waited for her friend to get ready.

Up in Cindy's room, Libby brought up the previous night. "Sooo you and Jimmy seemed awfully friendly last night," she teased as Cindy, now full dressed, fussed with her hair.

"Oh. Yeah. …. Well we're doing the whole friends thing now."

"Hmm. Just friends?"

"Ugh. Of course! Have you seen Nerdton? He's a total dork!"

"Oh I dunno. He's gotten taller. You no longer have to look down at him."

"Really? Hadn't noticed."

Libby laughed at her friend's lie. "You're the one who pointed it out to me."

"Whatever."

"I think you should reconsider. I mean he put on a whole show yesterday just for you."

"It wasn't … did he say that?" She asked hopefully.

"He didn't say it say it … but."

"But you're going to tell me you can read his mind?" Cindy rolled her eyes.

"He seemed awfully flustered about denying it. And you know this isn't exactly the type of invention he usually does. Usually he does stupid boy stuff. And .. .and when you started crying yesterday I had to convince him not to go after you. Besides, he was even more insistent on following up on you during your little trip than you were about him. You should have seen his face when I told him you'd be in town yesterday."

"He asked about me? "

"He asks about you literally every time he sees me without you. It's super annoying honestly. He's like obsessed with you," she said, pandering to her friend's ego.

Cindy simply slouched on her bed with a smile.

"Oh and you might wanna close your blinds," Libby added.

"What?"

"Your very own peeping Tom," Libby said, gesturing to the window. Cindy glanced at the open blinds in horror.

"NO."

"Yes. I had to help him put his tongue back in his mouth."

Cindy feigned a look of disgust but the pleased smiled that spread across her face gave away the truth. Her eyes unfocused in the distance as she fell into a day dream.

Seeing that her friend would need prompting, Libby pulled Cindy off the bed. "Are you ready to go Cind? The latest fashions are not going to buy themselves. We have trends to start!"

And with that, the two girls headed out.

Things in Retroville were back to normal. For the time, anyway.


	6. Closed Doors

**A/N: I had a sudden burst of inspiration last night and got this done. Thanks again for the reviews, especially to the new followers and reviewer. I am excited to get this story moving now that the kids will be in school again. Please read, review and as always, enjoy! Also, yay - this is my first story to hit 10k+ words.**

* * *

As July bled into August, Jimmy found himself less and less sure of what he thought he'd learned about Cindy's home life. On multiple occasions, he'd attempted to bring the topic up but Cindy, having a keen ability to sense where the conversation was headed, arranged it so the two were never alone long enough to have a serious conversation.

By the beginning of August, she was baring her shoulders again with no hint that her arm had ever been anything other than perfect. Once, Jimmy attempted to broach the subject with his own mom, asking if she'd noticed there was anything 'odd' about Cindy's mom.

Mrs. Neutron's face had faltered for only a moment before telling him that some people's personalities were just a bit different and to not be rude to an adult even if he thought she was rude to him. Judy was never that fond of Sasha's abrasive and pretentious persona but she clearly missed exactly what Jimmy was hinting at.

The only real evidence that Jimmy had from the two nights that Cindy'd let him in on the unhappy secret was a remarked decrease in her antagonist behavior. To someone who didn't pay close attention to Cindy, the difference was negligible and could easily be attributed to the fact that she was finally starting to grow up a little. But as Jimmy was becoming increasingly aware, he was _always_ paying very close attention to his neighbor.

If someone else complimented his intellect, she now said nothing to dispute it. Her insults, while still plentiful enough, seemed to now carefully dodge the subjects he was most insecure about. If he made eye contact, she'd bashfully turn away instead of rolling her eyes and making a face of disgust. Playful punches and slaps stopped leaving him bruises. 'King Cranium,' 'Spewtron' and 'Nerdtron' were largely replaced for the formal but inoffensive 'Neutron.' During the brief moments the two lacked an audience, she used his first name.

In fact, their relationship had improved so much that Jimmy had grown quite apprehensive about digging for more information from her. If he pried too much, thing might go back to how they were. He wanted very much to avoid that.

* * *

Finally, the day had come that Sheen was released from his summer math. There was only one week before school but Jimmy and Carl decided to make the most of it by letting Sheen choose which whacky and inevitably dangerous invention Jimmy would make next.

The life-sized toy robots were supposed to fight each other. But, like most of Jimmy's genius inventions, the robots had somehow become self aware and figured out that it was the boys behind the remote controls that were the problem, not one another.

That was how Jimmy, Carl and Sheen found themselves hiding from a giant Llama, robot Ultra Lord and replica Einstein as the unlikely band of villainous robots terrorized the town.

"I never thought it would end like this! But I always hoped!" Sheen shouted he ran past Libby's house. Jimmy wasn't too far behind him. Carl was nowhere in sight.

"There goes your boyfriend," Cindy said with a judgmental smirk.

"Yeah, pretty sure this one is on _your_ boyfriend," Libby said, pointing at the over-sized toys that chased after the group. Carl had fallen so far behind that the robots actually preceded him.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend!"

"Hi girls," Carl said, panting heavily as he reached the house.

"Oh my god, Carl, are you alright?"

"I'm doing wonderful, Libby, why thank-you for asking."

"Really? Cuz it looks like your genius best friend has sicked a trio of very specific evil robots afer you guys," Cindy said.

"Oh. Right," Carl said before letting out a scream of terror. Both girls covered their ears.

Libby placed a hand over his mouth. "Will you shut up? I do not want those things coming back this way."

"Oh," Carl said, "I think they gave up on me. I must not be good enough." He let out a disappointed sigh.

"And that's bad because?" Cindy asked.

Carl shrugged, "I just want to fit in." The girls exchanged a look.

"Alright, explain to me what Neutron did this time…"

* * *

Sheen and Jimmy made it to The Candy Bar and slammed the door shut.

"Quick, Sheen, hide from the glass door. If they can't see us, they might give up." The boys ducked under a table.

"So, we just wait until they kill us?"

"No. Just gotta figure something out…"

Outside, the three robots began destroying garbage cans, cars and anything in sight as they searched for their prey. Jimmy began tinkering with the remote control but it seemed to have no effect on robo-Einstein's behavior.

It did not take Cindy, Libby and Carl long to find Jimmy and Sheen. The door to The Candy Bar burst open as they came in.

"NEUTRON!" Cindy yelled, "You better get out here and clean up your mess."

"Down here, Cindy, and be quiet!"

"What are you doing?" She demanded as she knelt down to their level.

"I'm trying to fix the remote controls. Carl, where is yours?"

"Oh, I dropped it when the robots were chasing us…" Carl said shrugging his shoulders.

"Carl! Without that remote, I can't control the robo-Llama. Argh! What are we going to do?"

Just then, the door to the shop blew off the hinges.

"No pressure, Jimmy," Sheen said, "But, you better think of something fast!"

"Umm…."

"There. Are. The. Evil. Overlords. Look at the devices they hold," robo-Einstein said.

"Indeed. They are no better than robo-fiend. We must destroy the controllers," Ultra Lord announced.

"Ultra Lord, no! I'm good. I swear I'm good!" Sheen yelled. Ultra Lord took a swing at him.

"Sheen, you can't reason with them. We better run!"

"Oh no you don't! You aren't leaving us to be attacked," Cindy said, grabbing Jimmy's arm.

"If you aren't buying anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Sam said to the robots. The Llama charged into the bar, snapping in half. "Or stay, take whatever you want – it's on the house!"

Carl, hearing this, wasted no time in grabbing a bowl of ice cream and heading toward one of the still intact tables. None of the robots followed him.

"Jimmy! Do something!" Libby yelled.

"Ooh. Come. THINK. THINK. THINK." Jimmy concentrated hard to focus on solution. He saw Carl eating peacefully.

" _Oh, I dropped it when the robots were chasing us"_

 _"dropped it when the robots were chasing us."_

 _"dropped it."_

"Brain Blast!" Jimmy yelled triumphantly, "Sheen, give your controller to Ultra Lord!" Jimmy placed his on the ground and kicked it to robo-Einstein.

Sheen shrugged and handed the controller to his idol.

"What. Is. This. You are evil." Robo-Einstein said to Ultra Lord.

"No! It is you who are the fiend!" Ultra Lord said and the two began to fight.

The Llama, seeing both Robots wielding the controllers, charged into the pair destroying them. Having destroyed his opponents, the Llama seemed to calm down. Jimmy ran up to and switched the power to 'off.'

"Phew," Jimmy said, "Come on guys, let's go home."

"Excuse me," Sam said, "But, you break it, you fix it or you buy it!" He motioned to the candy story which was now in disarray.

"Oh man…"Jimmy said, "I better get a robot to-"

"NO!" Everyone in the shop shouted in unison. Sam handed Jimmy a broom and dust pan. Jimmy let out a defeated sigh.

* * *

It was pretty late when he got back from cleaning up. He was very tired and achy but he found himself oddly energized when he saw Cindy sitting on the steps of her house. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"Hey, Cindy."

"Neutron."

"What a day, huh?"

"Yep. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever nearly destroy Retroville again."

"Hey-"

"Jimmy," she whispered, getting very close to him and grabbing his arm, "Oh you're such an idiot."

Jimmy's face flushed at the contact and soft tone of her voice.

"You're bleeding. Didn't anybody ever tell you how to clean up glass?"

"What?" He looked down. There was a very long but not too deep gash across his forearm. Blood was trickling out.

"Just wait a moment," Cindy turned back into her house. With the door ajar, Jimmy could hear an argument forming between her folks.

"You are too hard on her!"

"Psh! Look at the example you give. You need to have structured discipline with children. If not, she's going end up 16 and pregnant! "

"Like you?"

"You ass! I was in college and if I remember a certain someone was a contributor to that problem! At least I wasn't on drugs and alcohol in school!"

"Making up for lost time now, then? If you keep being such a royal bitch in front of her, she's going to end up just like you!"

There was a firm slapping sound.

"How dare you!"

"Oh. I see how it is. How would you like it if I did it to you, huh?" Jimmy saw the shadow of Cindy's dad shove her mom.

"Honestly, I don't know why I married you!"

"I know why! Because you couldn't bear the shame that you got from not keeping your whore legs closed!"

There was another slap.

He leaned in to see more but the door closed in front of him. He saw Cindy's face, her body pressed between him and the door. Their noses were practically touching.

"Cindy…"

"Shh! I need to focus." Cindy led him down to sit at the bottom of the stairs. He felt a cold liquid hit the cut and inhaled sharply in pain. "Sorry… I gotta make sure you don't get infected."

Jimmy watched silently as Cindy cleaned the cut. She blew gently on it to evaporate the disinfectant causing goose bumps to travel up his arms. Then, she gently applied a layer of gauze before taping up the wound.

"There. All better."

"Cindy. What's going on?"

"You feel alright?"

"Cindy, I heard them –"

"Just don't. Not now, okay?"

"Then when?"

Cindy gave an aggravated sigh, "Don't you folks ever fight?"

"Not like that…"

"Well, aren't you special?"

"Cindy I didn't mean it like-"

She put a hand up to silence him, "I get it. You're being nice. But you honestly shouldn't have overheard that anyway. Can't you forget what you saw?"

"No."

"Well, I'm not talking about it this close to them."

"Okay. Well, what are you doing tomorrow? You still owe me an experiment."

The look on her face told him it was the wrong thing to say.

"I can't. I have to get ready for school. I still have a lot of stuff to do."

"Oh. Rain-check then?"

"Sure," she said. She almost made it back inside for turning around. "Hey, Jimmy?"

"Yes?" He asked hopefully.

She slowly walked down the stairs and hesitated when she reached him. She leaned up on her toes, making her once again taller than him like she used to be. She placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Please take care of yourself."

His hand instinctively rose up to the warm spot on his face where her lips had been.

"Only if you promise to do the same."

The pained look on her face told him that that too was the wrong thing to say. She went inside without another word.


	7. A Bad Sport

**A/N: I'm dealing with some medical stuff so sorry for the delay. Here is chapter 7.**

* * *

Despite the fact that the 7th graders' classes were only in a different wing of the building, everything about the school year felt different. It also seemed that for the first time, there were worthy clubs and sports to participate in. Cindy had been somewhat used to a busy schedule between the few lessons her mom had her take privately. But this year was different.

She and Jimmy had not seen much of each other since school started, thanks to her relentless extra-circulars. In fact, it seemed everyone had a full schedule of activities except for Jimmy. And it was not for a lack of effort. The new school year was not treating him well.

It was the end of September but the weather was still warm enough to go without a jacket. On this particular day, Jimmy found himself hoisted in the branches of a large oak tree. His right arm was hooked and twisted uncomfortably away from his body. His legs were contorted upwards causing blood to rush to his head. There would be no getting to his watch to deploy a safe method of decent downward.

"Oh look, the nerd tree is blooming!"

Jimmy heard a voice call from below but he did not recognize it. He turned his head as far as his current predicament would allow and he found a face he could only place as someone whom he assumed graduated last year. He couldn't quite place the name. Kevin maybe? Chris? Kyle?

A decent size rock clunked against Jimmy's head causing him to curse. The unnamed bully simply laughed and chucked another rock up the tree, missing him the second time.

"Stop that!" Jimmy yelled.

"Stop that!" Echoed back in a mocking tone. Jimmy sighed and shut his eyes as a third rock narrowly missed them.

"What are you doing?" The familiar nagging tone came from down below. As Jimmy focused his attention he saw a blonde cheerleader now with the bully, hand propped on her hip and disapproval written all over her face.

"Hey, Cindy," the boy replied, his tone now entirely flirtatious.

"Don't 'hey' me. What are you doing? Did you and your big headed friends toss the mascot up in the tree again? He's only 10."

It was hard to be sure but now that he'd called her name out, Jimmy could tell that it _was_ Cindy. _Great._

"Come on, Cindy. You know you want a piece of this." He flexed his arms for her benefit. She let out an aggravated groan.

"That is most certainly the last thing I want."

"Oh is that right? Don't be such a tease." He gave an obviously fake yawn before throwing an arm around her shoulder.

Cindy turned the situation around quickly, pulling his arm to be twisted tightly behind his back. Any onlooker would have assumed that Kyle would be shortly joining Jimmy up in the tree.

But Kyle was much bigger and stronger than she was and managed to reverse the roles on Cindy without much effort.

"Ooh, I like them feisty!" Cindy wriggled against his embrace.

"Leave her alone!" Jimmy called out, though he wasn't sure how he'd back those words up.

"Neutron?!" Cindy said, taking a good look up for the first time.

Kyle laughed, "Oh, what is this your little boyfriend?"

Jimmy waited for her trademark denial but it never came.

"Let him down."

"I didn't put him up here."

"Bullshit."

"Wouldn't you rather be with a real man?"

"I don't see one," Cindy said.

"Oh, come on. Loosen up a bit. We could show this dork what's up?"

"What .. what part of being a royal asshole do you think is going to make me suddenly swoon over an idiot like you?"

"I've seen you checking me out at practice."

"You're not even on the team!"

"Yeah, cuz they couldn't handle me, babe. Too much of a -"

"Being the only guy in the 8th grade who drives himself to school because he flunked twice is not a turn-on!"

"Oh, come on, you know you like that bad boy type don't you?"

"I like boys who are literate."

"Don't be such a little bitch, Cindy."

What happened next appeared to happen in slow motion for all three school children. Kyle's hand made contact with the tight spandex under Cindy's skirt, the force of his hand bringing enough wind to cause the green and purple pleats of her skirt to swish. The smacking sound echoed ominously.

It was this exact moment, as she scooted her butt forward to escape the hand, the branch that held Jimmy slowly gave out beneath him, while the one pinning his arm held tight. He found himself dangling precariously from the tree. The blood promptly flooded from a puddle in his skull back to its proper location.

Not 10 seconds later Cindy's foot was lodged between Kyle's legs with a loud thud. The scream that emerged from his lips reached a falsetto that would have surely landed him a part in the spring musical. The response was automatic on her part, as was the rebound slap across his face.

Kyle recoiled into a protective fetal position, his curses much less threatening as he grabbed his crotch. When he recovered enough to speak, Cindy made motions to give him another kick. Kyle decided that the fight was no longer worth it and left the scene with his knees still pressed together giving him a somewhat waddle-like departure.

"Neutron? Are you okay?"

"Doing just great!" Jimmy said sarcastically as he swung from the limb.

"Just hang on!"

Jimmy watched as Cindy effortlessly climbed up the tree to the location which he found himself hanging. Her feet seemed to find steps along the trunk of tree with ease and her hands knew just where to grab without looking. She was an experienced climber.

She reached the impressively high location of the tree where Jimmy had been left earlier. Without thinking too much, she pulled at the offending branch, releasing Jimmy from its clutches. Unfortunately from him, that branch was the only thing keeping him from free falling. Instinctively he reached for the nearest thing for support. Unfortunately for _her_ that nearest thing was her cheer tank-top.

The two came tumbling down the together, hitting a few branches on their way down. Jimmy landed flat on his back with a painful gasp and Cindy landed on top of him, still managing to find some grace by planting her hands on either side of his shoulders to take some of the impact off of her legs.

The two preteens shared an awkward moment as Cindy carefully got up from over him.

"T-thanks, I think." Jimmy said, in too much pain to move.

"What'd you do to provoke him?" The demanding question preceded the hand up she offered him.

Jimmy winced as her grab her hand and got back on his feet.

"What makes you think I did something?"

"You have this _way_ about you," she said emphasizing the word way.

"What's that supposed to me?"

"I'm saying your arrogance has a way of bringing it out in people."

"That's not true!"

"I speak from experience," she said quietly, her eyes darting away from his.

It had been awhile since they had been alone. Jimmy found himself very aware of the close proximity between the two, as well as the tightness of the top she wore. He'd never connected her cheerleading gear with her spot on the squad though it was actually the third school day this year the whole team had worn them in class and she sat right in front of him during English.

The top had not been tight when the uniforms were issued at tryouts the second week of school. Jimmy noted that her breasts had increased in size. A _scientific_ observation, he found himself mentally clarifying.

Instead of asking more about how he egged people on, he decided to prove her point but blurting out the first defensive thing that came to mind.

"So, cheerleading? Aren't you a little young to be total a sell out?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's a mindless hobby," he said, doubling down for reasons he didn't understand, "Your intellect may not rival mine but surely you could find something more interesting than parading yourself in front of guys like Kyle-"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about! What is your problem?"

He hadn't the slightest clue what his problem was.

"Honestly, Cindy, you look ridiculous!"

"No one asked you! And … and I'll have you know that cheerleading is a serious athletic pursuit! Not that you'd have any idea. You can't even climb out of a tree!"

"Athletic? It's not even a sport!"

"It is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Wanna bet?"

"Yes I do!" She said, fists clenched and righteous indignation rising in her chest.

"Fine!"

"Come to my practice tomorrow. You can run our routine through every definition of the word sport. And when you see that I'm right-"

"And if I prove that it's not a sport?"

"Then I'll quit and pursue something more PURE you ungrateful little -."

"Fine!"

"Fine."

Jimmy turned around to walk away, still not sure what he was mad at her about. He should have been thanking her for helping him out of the tree. Without her, he might have been up there for quite some time. But he couldn't stand those stupid ringlets that bounced when she talked or the way that tacky skirt swished when she moved. And the thought of her of all people with a fake smile, waving a set of poms and _cheering_ of all things. It made him irritated or something close to irritated. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.


	8. Unscrupulous Behavior

**A/N: I can't believe it took over a week to get this chapter done and I'm still not 100% a fan of it but I do want to try to update at least weekly. So here is chapter 8 as the plot thickens... mawahaha.**

 **Also if anyone knows how to make indents(like tabbing whole sections) in your story, please let me know I can't figure it out.**

* * *

He hadn't meant a single word that came out of his mouth and yet he'd said all of them. To say that the walk home was awkward was an understatement. For although Jimmy made motions to storm off, the two still lived on the same block.

He also knew _exactly_ why he was 'mad' at her because he wasn't actually mad at her at all. She was a distraction. She'd always been a distraction. And she excelled in areas that he struggled in while doing decently for herself in things like math and science. Perfectly well rounded, except for her mouth which was more than he could say of himself. He couldn't stand her.

 _"Yes. I really like her. Happy now?"_ His words to Libby from just that summer echoed in his head.

He couldn't stand her but he really liked her. That was a logical impossibility that meant that they always had fights like these: fights over absolutely nothing. Fights that stopped them from getting too close while still being around each other all the time, a goal that both children held dear for no valid reason at all. He knew that it didn't make sense and he was pretty sure she knew that too. And yet, he found himself continuing to fight her as though it was programmed into his very being.

He _liked_ being distracted by her and he _liked_ fighting with her. Except he didn't like it today. Today, he was embarrassed by just about everything not the least of which was the situation surrounding being strung up a tree like a set of Christmas lights on Black Friday.

The stubborn silence grew between them and their houses felt eons away. It was going to be a very long walk if neither of them swallowed their pride. The only question was who was going to do it this time.

Today, it would be Jimmy's responsibility to start the conversation. He was in the wrong, after all, and even he knew it.

He cleared his throat and said, "Thank-you." Not an apology but an offering.

"You're welcome." Her furrowed brow and pursed lips told him that he was going to have to offer more.

"You don't look ridiculous," he said. She stopped walking. He stopped too.

"Why, thank-you Jimmy. You sure know how to charm a lady." Her arms were folded.

He was still too proud to apologize to her so he'd appeal for sympathy, "I'm having a really bad day."

She laughed a little and relaxed her shoulders but the arms remained crossed. "I noticed."

"What was your first clue?"

"Gosh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that you were dangling from a tree? You really should leave those JV football players alone."

"That idiot wasn't the one who uh … did that."

"Then who was?" Her interest caused her to lose focus on maintaining an annoyed stance. Jimmy looked at her and gave a heavy sigh. He should have just told her it _was_ that idiot. She would have believed him.

"The chess team," he said with such a deadpan expression that she almost thought he was purposely looking serious to pull her chain. She smirked a little, holding back a laugh.

"I'm sorry, were you being too geeky for the _chess team_?"

It was no secret that Jimmy had been turned down from various clubs already. There was the science team, which Jimmy insisted that _he_ quit due to 'intellectual differences.' There was the math team, which told him he couldn't join as he would give them 12 members, ruining their goal of have a prime number of members. The fact that they accepted someone new the next day did not go unnoticed. Then there was the chess team and he wasn't going to explain what he'd done to piss them off because it made him look like a giant asshole and a terrible friend: a series of poorly calculated moves that had managed to enrage eight classmates and worse of all Sheen, who was supposed to be his best friend.

"It's not funny," he said. The pair began walking again. A silence formed between them again and it seemed they might stop arguing until Cindy decided to break that silence, just moments before it was time to part.

"It's a little funny," she said. Jimmy had to admit that 'judgmental smirk' was a good look on her. He gave a dejected sigh but she continued the conversation before he had a chance to quip back.

"So, I guess I'll see you in the gym tomorrow at 3?" She said.

"What?"

"Did you forget that you insulted my athletic acumen?"

"What?"

"Cheerleading is a sport. Probably the toughest one our school has to offer," she wagged a proud finger in his face.

"It's not a sport," he said. _Programmed into his very being._

"It's definitely a sport! You're just dissing it because you couldn't hack it."

"What? That's stupid. Boys aren't cheerleaders, Cindy."

"There's plenty of boys on the squad. I'd challenge you to try it but I can't drive yet so we should put off purposely putting you in the hospital."

"You're so infuriating!"

"You forgot to grab a mirror before saying that."

"Super clever Vortex."

She gave an indignant "Hmph!" before retreating to her house. He watched as the ringlets bounced and the skirt swished in her wake.

 _So infuriating._

Jimmy headed for his lab after a lingering glance.

"Vox. Please run a search," he looked around guiltily before clearing his throat, "What makes something a sport?"

The screen displayed an hourglass for a few moments before the criteria displayed.

"Hmmm..."

* * *

The following day paradoxically dragged on and sped by for Jimmy. He chalked the sensation up to the fact that hadn't slept very well the night before. First period was English and judging by Cindy's enthusiastic hand-raising, she had slept just fine.

With each question, her hand shot up in the air so fast it seemed unlikely she'd even fully heard the question. This was typically Cindy, very eager for any chance to prove herself. The soft ringlet pigtails of yesterday were replaced by her usual sleek ponytail. Even the slightest move would send it in motion, each swinging strand serving as a hypnotic watch to lure him into trance.

But his guilty conscious took him back to the events of yesterday rather than a fantasy land.

* * *

Jimmy sat across from Sheen, the battlefield between them. Jimmy had never felt so nervous before. This _had_ to work but he found himself so unsure. His pressed the button on the top of his glasses for reassurance. As it turned out, doing _that_ would prove to be the final blunder.

"Since when do you even wear glasses Neutron?" A cold voice asked. Busted. It was Tom, an eighth grader who'd been observing the game with little interest until that moment.

"Uh… well since this summer?"

"Give me those."

"What? No!" But Jimmy's reflexes were too slow.

"What the hell? These have a computer program on the screen. You've been cheating!"

And that was that. The cat was out of the bag. It was his third and final day on the chess team.

"Jenga!" Sheen called, moving a Rook down the rank, pining Jimmy's King between a rock and a hard place.

Tom's voice instantly snapped from cold to friendly. "We say 'checkmate' when we win Sheen. We can work on that."

None of his failed inventions or Cindy's taunting nicknames could compare to how utterly humiliated he felt. And it wasn't like he could explain to Sheen just why this was so humiliating. Sheen and Carl lost against Jimmy in all sorts of contests against the boy genius. But that was exactly it. He was a genius and quite frankly, they were dumb.

Jimmy _shouldn't have_ explained to Sheen why this was humiliating but he certainly _tried to._ And unfortunately, Sheen understood exactly what he was saying.

It was no surprise that they ganged up on him after that. He just hadn't anticipated that they would be so strong or that Sheen wouldn't stop them. Apparently, Sheen didn't like being told that he had the "intelligence and attention span of a goldfish." Apparently Sheen didn't like that he'd only been invited to come to the chess club out of pity and he found it especially offensive that Jimmy didn't think he'd manage to learn the rules much less beat him. Apparently, Jimmy sucked at social chess as much as the real thing.

But the first game was just a fluke and Jimmy had used Sheen's gullibility to convince him he'd lost that game. Then, it a fit of jealous shame, he'd spent the entire night before developing computerized glasses with a special algorithm designed to select the best possible move in any given situation.

The worst part wasn't even being tossed up a tree or hurting his friend. The worst part, if Jimmy were totally honest, was that even with his cheating he still lost. And to someone who insisted on calling the knights 'horseies.' The worst part was caring more about that than his friend.

He deserved his fate.

* * *

It was the combination of the bell and the swift departure of the ponytail that jarred him out of his focus. Maybe Sheen would forget. He really did have the attention span of a goldfish.

By the time fourth period had rolled around, Jimmy found himself struck by the realizations that it had simultaneously felt like a year had passed and also that he could not remember what had happened between the bell releasing first hour and the bell announcing the start of fourth.

The boys sat in a line in alphabetical order, preparing for attendance. His eyes remained on Sheen trying to gauge the mood that he was in. He pulled out the moodective, having snuck it in under his gym shirt.

' **Bored'** was the primary emotion though 'hungry' and 'distracted' were fairly prominent. Jimmy was confused to see 'excited' at the bottom of the list but then again it wasn't unlike Sheen to be both excited and bored at the same time, a juxtaposition of emotions that sprung from ADHD treated with television and sugar.

"Hey," Jimmy said when the boys were finally released from the attendance line.

"Well, well, if it isn't Hitler," Sheen said, switching from his usual demeanor to angry in a flash.

"Sheen, that doesn't make sense."

"Your face doesn't make sense!"

"THAT doesn't make sense."

"Your mom doesn't make sense!"

"Hey," Carl protested, "leave Judy out of this. She did the best she could."

Jimmy gave Carl a look to which he shrugged.

"Sheen, look, I'm sorry. I was just testing out an experiment. I didn't mean it I didn't mean any of it. Do you think you can forgive me?"

"Never!"

"Oh. I understand. I guess I'll have to throw away this Ultra Lord action figure that I got. If only I had a friend to give it -" Jimmy had managed to sneak two conspicuous items to gym class that day. The indent of the objects were still creased into his stomach.

Sheen immediately snatched the action figure, "I can totally be bought with bribes," he said.

Jimmy laughed, "There's the Sheen we know and love."

"And betrayed over a pointless game to preserve a flawed sense of pride knowing that we could buy his love and affection with overpriced pieces of plastic!" Carl added gasping for breath at the end, with a turned hand placed upon his forehead for dramatic effect.

"Carl…"

But Carl wasn't exactly wrong and Jimmy didn't exactly feel better about what he'd done. Sheen gave a dejected sigh once the other boys had turned away. It wasn't like he had friends to spare. At least he got a new toy out of it.

* * *

Jimmy made his way back to the gym after the bell releasing the last class of the day sounded. Just one more uncomfortable thing to get through and he'd be free.

There wasn't much in the way of company to watch the practice. An obvious big sister sitting with a novel. A member of the squad watching on sadly with a broken leg. And a strange man in the bleachers. Something about him seemed off. He wasn't quite so old as to qualify as a mom or dad type but he was old enough that hanging out with him was less cool and more weird.

Jimmy was surprised that Cindy did not address him with any sort of insult. Instead, the group of cheerleaders were gathered on the other side of the gym, still within sight but any communication would require a bit of shouting. He was also surprised to see that they did not practice in uniform, instead opting for an array of gym clothes, mostly yoga pants and shorts and tanks of various colors. In retrospect, that made sense.

The practice started with a pep talk and then lead into some stretches on the mats. Not that athletic so far but Jimmy's hopes about 'winning' yet another contrived excuse to spend time with Cindy would soon be dashed.

There were indeed guys at the practice. They were vastly outnumbered, sure, but they were there. As the group began rehearsing stunts, Jimmy found himself somewhat reluctantly impressed. There were cartwheels and high kicks, pyramids and spins, spotters and fliers.

A group of girls hoisted Cindy up in the air and it was clear that every single person on the team was in excellent physical condition and very skilled. Two of out the three key qualities for being a sport would be impossible to argue against. Damn it.

The stunts were vaguely similar to some of the karate moves that Cindy also did and as the practice continued, Jimmy realized that cheerleading seemed to be gymnastics with big smiles, peppy yelling and strange fashion rules. And gymnastics was in the Olympics. Double damn it.

In between runthroughs of some sort of routine, Jimmy's eyes wandered back to the mostly empty stands. It seemed he wasn't the only one watching Cindy very closely.


	9. Concessions

**A/N: Here is chapter 9. Please enjoy. Shout-out to The J.A.M. aka Numbuh i for basically predicting how part of this would go.**

* * *

Halfway through the practice there was a break. Cindy made her way over to Jimmy popped her hip seductively asked, "So what do you think?"

He did not have a ready response to this. She was smiling at him and seemed to flutter her eyes at him and if it had been any other girl, he'd have sworn she was _flirting_ with him. Perhaps she'd bet him coming here simply to show off? If that was the case, it was definitely working.

"Uh... duh... er..." Jimmy said, his cheeks growing red. Somehow, stuttering incoherently was the right response as Cindy beamed back at him. But before she could tease him, the two were interrupted.

"Well, I think you did just great." It was the man who'd been suspiciously watching her.

"M-mr. Jones," Cindy said, legs now firmly pressed together, arms snapping to cover her chest instantaneously, "What are you doing here?"

"Your mother sent me to pick you up after practice so we can get you to your piano lessons." He smiled pleasantly at her, "Is this your boyfriend?"

Cindy looked both irritated and mildly alarmed, "He's not my boyfriend. This is Jimmy, that kid that lives across the street." Damn, she referred to him as 'that kid,' not even a friend?

"Hi," Jimmy said weakly, "Nice to meet you."

"Jimmy, this is Mr. Jones. He's a family friend. I have to get back to practice."

She quickly scurried back to the group of cheerleaders who were gulping down water. The man said nothing at her departure and scooted back away from where Jimmy was sitting. Though, if Jimmy had to say, he could have sworn that this gave him a dirty look.

Jimmy noted some subtle differences in the second half of the practice. Cindy seemed to mess up a bit more, though he couldn't be totally sure as the rules of cheerleading were not something he fully understood.

She also now wore a loose sweater over her tank top and somehow, it seemed as though her posture had changed in a way that made her chest and bottom less noticeable, as though she were contorting her body to make it appear smaller. Not that he was noticing those things before or now for that matter.

The coach lead the team in some final stretches before releasing them, paying special attention to leading a select set of girls into attempting the splits. Cindy was one of those girls. Watching the move hurt a bit as Jimmy imagined trying to bend himself that way.

Mr. Jones slinked over to Cindy the moment she was released. This lead to an awkward confrontation when Jimmy had made his way over to her as well and the three simply looked at each other for a few moments before Mr. Jones talked to Cindy.

"I hope you didn't make plans with your little friend. We've got to get you straight to your lessons, sweetheart." The way he said sweetheart made Jimmy's stomach turn. Mr. Jones's arm gripped around Cindy's protectively, pulling her small frame into his embrace.

"No, sir," Cindy said, "Jimmy's here so I can give him a copy of my notes. We're just going to run to my locker." She pried herself out of his hold and forcefully grabbed Jimmy's arm.

Mr. Jones laughed, "Cindy, there's no need to call me sir. You can call me Alex. You're practically an adult now anyway." He gave both the kids a warm smile. It was a nice thing to say but it made Jimmy like the man even less.

Jimmy watched as Mr. Jones grew further and further away. He realized that Cindy was dragging him inside the hallways toward the lockers.

"So?" Cindy said.

"That guy's a creep," Jimmy said.

"What? Mr. Jones? He's harmless. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

Cindy waved his concern off with a dismissive gesture, "About the bet? I'm right aren't I?"

"What?"

"Ugh! Cheerleading is a sport. The whole reason you were watching this practice to begin with? Or are you a creep too?"

"So you do think he's a creep."

"Yeah, he's a total creep."

"But he's harmless?"

"You're harmless too."

There was a moment of silence before Jimmy realized she was implying he was a creep too.

"Hey!"

Cindy laughed at him and shrugged her shoulders. But it wasn't a mean laugh. Instead it was more of a giggle. "I'm still an athlete. Admit it."

"Well, this _thing_ does seem to require physical exertion and there does seem to be a set of rules involved and a certain level of _skill_ ," Jimmy conceded though his emphasis on skill was less than flattering.

"Please, like you could fly in the air like me and land on your teammates hands and then do a high kick…"

"I wouldn't want to," he protested.

"Whatever, it sounds like you're saying I was right."

"Well, but it's not very competitive and for something to be a sport it has to be competitive..." He didn't exactly feel right still arguing with her and yet he persisted.

A pleased smirk grew across her lips, "We compete against other squads. There's judges and trophies and everything. Admit it, I'm right." She seemed so happy about this and he really didn't have a good counter argument. "Oh, alright. I guess it's a sport. A really girly dumb sport but…"

"Ha! I win - now you have to … we never actually decided on what you'd do if you admitted I was right," she stated, the fact just dawning on both kids. They were slipping.

"I guess we didn't."

Awkward silences were beginning to be their M.O.

"Well, I guess we can decide later," she said.

"I'll buy you a shake," Jimmy said matter of factly, "At the candy bar. We can go for a shake. I'll buy."

Cindy blinked a few times and then smiled shyly. That sounded almost like a date. "Well, I guess I could spend the time with you if you're going to admit I was right…"

"Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be so bad." He couldn't help but match her smile.

Cindy bit her lip nervously, "well, um I gotta go. Mr. Jones will insist on driving me."

"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll walk you over there."

The two made their way outside and Jimmy watched as Cindy got into the passenger seat of the car. She seemed decidedly unhappy the moment the car came into sight.

Jimmy made he was over to the activities bus. It wasn't a far walk home but he felt the urge to get home quickly.

As Jimmy boarded the bus, he noticed that Sheen and Libby were on the bus. Carl was there too.

Jimmy realized that Sheen must have still been a part of the chess team, judging by the small wooden box he had in his arms. This was ridiculous, he thought. Carl, as it turned out had joined band. How had Jimmy not noticed that? He was carrying a flute and sat with a group of girls, all also carrying flutes. They chatted about the petting zoo in town. The zoo was getting alpacas, which Carl excitedly explained to the group were not the same as llamas but still 'very cute' he assured them.

Jimmy rolled his eyes at the girls hanging on to his every word. It wasn't like they were into him though, right? He seemed more like one of the girls than anything else.

Libby was dressed in all black, head to toe. He would later learn that she was on the dance team and that the dance team and the cheerleading squad were very friendly even with each other, so long as you didn't mistake one for the other.

Sheen sat was sitting next to Libby, prattling on about something unimportant in the usual Sheen-like fashion. Jimmy took the empty seat across from them.

"Hey, Jimmy," Libby said.

"Hey Libby. Hey Sheen."

Sheen nodded at Jimmy and immediately went back to talking to Libby who gave a small sigh. She was hoping Jimmy's presence would steer the conversation away from Sheen's excitement about the new Ultra Lord comic. It did not, to Jimmy's surprise. Sheen was still angry.

Libby took the next pause in Sheen's rambling to change the subject. "So, Jimmy, did you join another club?"

"Uh, no." Jimmy and Sheen exchanged pained glances. How many people knew about what down with the chess team?

"Then why are you on the actives bus?"

"Didn't feel like walking a few miles."

"Well, yeah but why not take to regular bus that left two hours ago?"

"Oh, I was with Cindy."

"Oh?" Libby said, arching an eyebrow, "I thought she had cheer practice."

"She did," Jimmy said, seeing where this went next.

"So you were just... watching her practice?"

"Well... hey did you know this Mr. Jones guy?" Jimmy asked, hoping to distract Libby. It was successful.

"Ugh. Yes. He's Mrs. Vortex's 'friend,'" Libby took careful attention to put air quotes around the word 'friend.'

"So he's not actually a family friend? He came to pick Cindy up. S-should I be worried?"

Libby grimaced, "no, he's a family friend. I just don't like him very much."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Uh..." Libby said, fearing she'd give away something Cindy didn't want others to know, "Well... just between us?"

Jimmy nodded. He really wanted to know.

"He's a creep. Real handsy. He flirts with Cindy's mom and that pisses off her dad which is why her mom hangs around him. It's just. He's harmless. Mostly."

"You sound just like Cindy."

"What do you mean?" Libby asked but Sheen finally had reached his limit of not talking.

"He never bothers you does he?" Sheen asked.

"Me? No. Asshole's pretty racist though." Libby frowned and Sheen placed a concerned hand on her back. It was true, he had called her Cindy's 'ghetto friend' and that did piss her off. But, wasn't that a good thing? That he wasn't touchy around her?

"Say, Jimmy, you never said why you were watching Cindy's practice."

"Uhh..." Jimmy said but he was saved by the bus arriving at its first stop: his. "Gotta blast!" And with that, he was standing up and making his way to the door.

"Bye Jimmy," Libby said.

"Bye." Sheen said. It was one word but at least that meant Sheen was still talking to him. Carl who was near the front of the bus simply waved at Jimmy as he made his way to the exit. Jimmy waved back and started the walk from the corner back to his house. Time to bust out an old invention.


	10. Eavesdropping

**A/N: I hadn't planned on writing in Libby/Sheen stuff but it just kind of came out. So enjoy! Here is chapter 10. I hope the plot isn't dragging too much. I'm realizing this story is going to be longer than any story I'd ever written. It's good practice though. :) I hope to one day write an original story.**

* * *

Libby and Sheen got off together at her stop. The quickly made their way into the Folfax household and up to Libby's room.

They didn't get much studying done. Sheen's short attention span lead them to changing subjects quickly. At one point, Sheen began wriggling about awkwardly.

"What are you doing?"

"Dancing for my dancing queen!" He said loudly. Libby placed a hand over her embarrassed face. The attention was nice, she had to admit, if not over the top.

"You're here to work on our history project, alright? No dancing." She couldn't believe the words "no dancing" had ever come out of her mouth. It felt like a betrayal.

"You got it mama!"

"Stop that too!" she said with a giggle. But Sheen's goofy smile was contagious and the two children began laughing together. Libby composed herself and gave Sheen as stern a look as she could muster.

"Sheen!" Libby said with a faux tone of disapproval.

"Libby!" He said back happily.

"We need to focus."

"It's hard to focus when I'm around such beauty." He wiggled his eyebrows. It was surprisingly smooth. If only she didn't know that he couldn't focus no matter where he was.

"Sheen, flattery will get you... well it get you pretty far actually. Keep it up." She said with a confident wink. He faked swooned in front of her. Mellow dramatic but still admittedly cute.

There was a firm knock at the door, followed by the door swinging up. It was Libby's father.

"I hear a lot of laughing and not a lot of studying up here. Do I need to make you two come to the living room?"

"Sorry dad!" Libby called out.

Sheen waved animatedly. Mr. Folfax cracked a small smile at the site of the excited boy.

"Say, son, are you staying for dinner tonight?"

Libby gave him an anxious glance. The thought of spending more time with Sheen was appealing but then there was her little brother who had a habit of making her and any friends she had over cringe. But Sheen was different. He'd probably manged to annoy her brother instead. What a refreshing change of pace _that_ would be.

"That sounds nice," Sheen said.

"Well then, would you like to use our phone to call your mom?"

There was a small, momentary flash of pain across his face. One would have had to be paying very close attention to notice. Libby noticed.

"Uh, sir, I don't live with my mom."

"Ah. Well your dad then?"

"Oh, Dad won't be home until late. But yeah, I should leave a message, I guess." Sheen began searching his bag frantically.

"What are you doing?" Libby asked.

"Trying to find my number. It's written down somewhere. . ." He seemed absolutely panicked and embarrassed as he threw about the contents of his bag. Old half-finished homework assignments, bits of garbage, Ultra Lord doodles and colorful rubber bands started to fill the floor. Sheen muttered to himself, trying to think up the number from memory.

"Sheen. It's okay. I got it right here," Libby flipped open a nice but outdated phone. It was a hand-me-down from her mom. For now, Libby was simply thrilled to have a cell phone.

"Oh. Hahaha. I'm so dumb," Sheen said, grabbing the cell phone but the laugh very fake and forced. His face was beat red. Sheen stepped quickly into the hallway to make the call as Mr. Folfax walked in and sat next to his daughter.

"He's got a bit of a rough time at home, huh?" Her father said softly. Libby nodded. "I had no idea his parents were divorced but then again I guess they aren't usually at school functions..."

"She's dead," Libby said, the word dead falling off her lips and hanging heavy in the air. There was a moment of silence between the father and daughter before he cleared his throat.

"Oh." Mr. Folfax said, sadly, "I feel just awful for asking about her."

"It's okay. You didn't know." Mr. Folfax nodded.

"I'll have your mother set an extra plate. And he's welcome to say any time." Libby smiled. "Now, you two better get your homework done. I won't have my little girl's grades slipping over a new boyfriend," He teased.

"As if!" Libby said, "He's just a friend." But her blush gave her away. Libby's dad just gave her a small nod and left. He met Sheen in the hallway.

"Listen, Sheen, I'm sorry about bringing up anything that might make you uncomfortable."

"That's okay, Mr. Folfax," Sheen said. He seemed to mean it.

"And son?"

"Yes."

"Do you like burgers?"

"I love burgers!" Sheen said with a little too much enthusiasm.

Mr. Folfax gave a hearty chuckle, "We'll put two on your plate then, how does that sound?"

"Great, sir!" Sheen said, giving him a salute.

Sheen sat back down on Libby's throw rug and started to pick up the contents of his backpack that he'd strewn about.

"Hey, Sheen?"

"Yeah Libs?"

"You are NOT dumb."

"Huh?"

"You said you were dumb. You're not. You got that?" She was using her stern lecture voice again.

Sheen gave her a small smile but it meant more than all the stupid toothy grins he'd given her before. They got a little bit more homework done after that.

* * *

"Hi there honey," Mrs. Neutron said, "How was playing chess with your friends?"

"It was ..." Jimmy struggled to find the words but finally settled with "okay."

Mrs. Neutron gave him a look, "If you want to quit that's okay. I just want you to be involved with kids your age. I know they may not be as good as you are but that doesn't mean you can't get something out of playing with them."

"Well, actually..." Jimmy said, "yeah it's not that fun. I think I might just focus on something else."

"Alright dear. Go wash up for dinner." Mrs. Neutron watched her son carefully. Getting him to develop social skills with kids his own age had always been a challenge. She knew that middle school and one day soon high school would be extra challenging. But he would only be a kid once and she was determined that he be a kid during that time.

The Neutron household dinner could not be over fast enough for the brooding boy. Jimmy was anxious to get to his lab. As soon as he greeted Goddard and checked his security settings, he headed over to a shelf full of old inventions. The echo eavesdropper, a hearing aid he'd once used to read thoughts, now with settings that allowed him to simply hear conversation from a distance. Exactly what he was looking for.

If Cindy wouldn't tell him what was going on, he could just listen in and see. Jimmy took extra care to make sure that there was no storms expected that night even though he was confident he'd fixed that particular glitch. Once the weather was situation was confirmed, he moved his attention to the device in his hands.

Unfortunately, it seemed that none of the Vortex household members were home when he's pressed the device to his wall and focused on the house across the street. He'd almost given up when the car pulled in the drive way. He adjusted his lab security camera from his lab to the house across the way.

It was Mr. Jones dropping Cindy off. He watched as she got out of the passenger seat and grabbed her backpack. She looked absolutely exhausted. He glanced at the time. It was already past eight o'clock. They'd have class in less than 12 hours. She really did have a long day.

Mr. Jones unlocked the house for her. Apparently, he had a key? He placed a hand on her lower back and scooted her in the house.

"You did good today Cindy. Why don't we let you have a treat? We don't have to tell your mom."

"N-no thanks," she said, her voice cracking in a very un-Cindy like way. She seemed nervous and small. He was indeed handsy, Jimmy noted.

The rest of scene would be auditory only as the door shut behind the two.

"When is mom coming home?" Cindy asked.

"Oh, you know your mother. She holds crazy hours at the office."

"Yeah," Cindy let out a dry laugh. "I'm going to go to my homework. Thanks for the ride. Can you lock the door on the way out?"

"Well young lady that's no way to treat a guest. Besides, I can't leave you by yourself until she gets home. I'll be down here if you need anything."

There were a few moments where Jimmy couldn't hear much of anything.

"Eek!" Cindy yelled. The sudden increase in volume caused Jimmy to jump back and wince from the high pitch sound hitting his ears.

Jimmy heard Mr. Jones's deep laugh. "Ohho, sorry about that. I guess you're getting a bit touchy about your body, huh? Ahh growing up. I have to say you are growing into quite the young lady. Filling out very nicely."

There was a few moments of silence. "You should thank someone when they compliment you."

"T-thanks Mr. Jones."

"Please, call me Alex."

"Thanks, Alex."

"That's a girl. And smile."

Jimmy heard the sound of small foot steps quickly running up the stairs and a door shutting. He couldn't be sure but it sounded like a lock clicking. And then, uncomfortable breathing. It was very soft but no mistaking the sound, Cindy was crying. What had that sleazeball done? Jimmy felt a sudden urge to run right over and ... well he wasn't sure what he would do. He was just angry. But as if on cue, the sound of two cars pulled up almost simultaneously flooded the sounds from inside the house.

The familiar bickering of the Vortex household was a welcome reprise. Mr. Vortex seemed to be annoyed with Mr. Jones who was laying it on thick with Mrs. Vortex. Mrs. Vortex's giggle was oddly reminiscent of Cindy's which made Jimmy a touch uncomfortable. And with that the family 'friend' was peeling out of the driveway.

Whatever crying there was had now been drowned out by the sounds of her parents preparing a meal.

* * *

The shake date was scheduled for the following Thursday since Thursdays were an early day for Cindy. Though early for Cindy still meant almost 4:00pm. They decided to meet at The Candy Bar.

Jimmy sat at his favorite table waiting for Cindy to arrive. Now was the time to lay down the law with the aid of a free shake to make things go smoothly. He remembered when Cindy had urged him to tell an adult when Terry kept taking his lunch. He decided now was the time to give her back her own advice.

The door swung open and there she was. Jimmy immediately noticed that she had changed clothes.

"You look . . . "Jimmy said, catching himself before words like 'cute' or 'pretty' came out. He found himself once again blushing like an idiot in front of his friend.

Cindy cocked an eyebrow at her companion. "I'd choose the next word carefully."

Jimmy cleared his throat. "You look different. Umm nice different. Not that you look bad normally. Erm .. well not that I notice. I mean not that I don't notice I uh .. well-"

Sam came over to the table saving Jimmy from having to continue to dig the hole deeper.

"Will your other friends be joining you today?" He placed a few menus on the table.

"Just us this time," Jimmy said.

"Ooooh, on a date?"

"NO!" they said in unison. Sam simply mouthed an 'okay' and left the two. A few other customers glanced at the loud 'no' but thankfully nobody from their grade was in the shop.

Cindy took her seat next to Jimmy. He was expecting an annoyed scowl on her face from his earlier comments but instead noticed that she too was blushing and if he weren't mistaken, genuinely smiling.

The two quickly buried their faces in the menus.


	11. Dues ex Momchina

**a/n: Sorry about the long time in between chapters. I have been dealing with some major stuff at home. Here is an update with a nice cliff hanger for your troubles. Please read and review. I hope I didn't lose too many readers during this time.**

* * *

"So . . ." Jimmy said.

"So . . ." Cindy said.

The two let out a simultaneous nervous chuckle and quickly broke eye contact. Arguing was much easier than making small talk.

Cindy played with the ends of her ponytail while glancing around the shop. She'd never really paid super close attention to the things on the walls or behind Sam's bar.

Jimmy made a sideways glance at Cindy while fiddling his thumbs under the table. He took a deep breath to calm himself down.

She bit her lip nervously and dared to look back at the boy. Eye contact again, great. She wondered why she'd agreed to come here. He probably wanted to get this over right away. He looked even less than comfortable than her.

But then again, he had suggested it. Her chapped lips curled into a small smile.

"What are you thinking about?" Jimmy asked, his voice a bit dry.

"Oh, nothing..." She said, mentally chastising herself for not having something better to say in response.

"What about you?" She asked.

"You know, the usual."

"Science stuff?" Finally, some kind of conversation if not an overly interesting one.

"Yeah, science stuff."

"Any new inventions?" She asked, hoping this would take the focus off of her for a while.

His eyes lit up – this a topic that he could go on about. He pondered what to say back. He couldn't mention the eavesdropping device but he hadn't worked on much else lately.

"Ohh not much."

"You mean you're working on something that will get you in trouble. I know that look."

He placed a nervous hand behind his head and glanced away guiltily. Fortunately, Sam came back with their shakes at that moment. They both began drinking them immediately.

"So, what's your plot to destroy the town next?"

"Nothing! My inventions are to help people."

"Riiight," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh you're just jealous," he said, falling comfortably into their routine.

"Maybe a little," she parroted back softly.

"Oh please, you total- wait what?"

Cindy simply shrugged at him and went back to drinking her shake.

"Are you okay Cindy?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure. It's just -"

"Just what?" She asked, making pains not to sound defensive.

"It's not like to admit something like that. You usually, I dunno, get mad and insult me."

"Did you want me to insult you? Cuz I can if you'd like," she laughed dryly.

"Well, no. I just … I don't get it."

"Maybe I'm jealous. Is that so crazy? And maybe I don't _want_ to insult you. Maybe I'm … maybe I'm just tired, you know?" She did look tired.

There were faint circles under her eyes. Her entire face seemed to be more relaxed than usual. A little sadder than normal but somehow inviting, like a feral cat showing its belly to him. No promises on how far he could get without getting bitten.

Jimmy directed the conversation back to small talk and the two finished up their not a date without much of a hitch.

They walked back to their houses. This time, they parted on Jimmy's doorstep instead of hers.

Jimmy was about to go inside when he noticed her lingering. Now was a good of time as any to convince her.

He smiled at her and she smiled back. So far, so good.

"Look, Cindy, you need to tell somebody what's going on." Jimmy said.

"What are you talking about?" Cindy immediately broke eye contact. Her smile vanished.

Jimmy let out a sigh. This wasn't going to be easy. "You know what I'm talking about. Everything with your family."

"For the last time Jimmy every family has problems. There's nothing to tell."

She crossed her arms but remained in front of him.

"You got a black eye! You broke your arm! There are red flags all over the place are you just … how do you not get it?"

"There's nothing to get. Will you just drop it?"

"But -"

"No buts! Promise me."

"Cindy, I want to do the right thing."

For a split second he thought he'd gotten through. She let out a heavy sigh.

"You don't get it."

"I'm trying to."

"Sometimes," Cindy said, her voice steady and her eyes focused back on the boy in front of her, "sometimes there isn't a right thing. Sometimes the right thing is the wrong thing to do."

"Cindy, that's a contradiction. If something is the wrong thing to do then it's not the right thing to do."

"You don't get it."

"Because that doesn't make sense."

"Yeah well life doesn't always make sense!"

"This is a simple problem. I know is seems -"

"There is nothing simple about things at home. You just don't get it."

"Cindy, I want to help you."

"You can't."

"You won't let me!"

"Look, okay. I know you think you're doing the 'right" thing," Cindy said, emphasizing the word right with air quotes, "but sometimes the right thing is the wrong thing to do."

"You can't just repeat yourself and suddenly be right. Are you suggesting that doing the wrong thing is justified in this case? Letting your family abuse you. Letting creepy guys take advantage -"

She cut him off, "Sometimes, the wrong thing is the wrong thing and the right thing is the wrong thing and everything is the wrong thing and -"

"And what? You do nothing?"

"Maybe you do understand."

"Cindy -"

"Promise you won't do anything. You'll make it worse. You'll make it a million times worse. Just – okay?"

Jimmy stared back at the green eyes in front of him. He had no idea why but the next thing out of his mouth was "I promise."

"Thanks, Jimmy. I knew I could trust you."

The two parted ways. Jimmy watched her cross the street and head into her own house. She did not look back.

He made his way inside, finding himself greeted by his mother over the kitchen sink, dish in hand. Her face was serious.

"Hi Jimmy. Did you have fun with your friend?" She asked slowly.

"Yes."

"Anything you want to share?" Her breath hitched.

He sighed, still irritated from what had just happened, "no. I've got a lot of homework to do."

Judy nodded at her son as he headed up the stairs. He was almost 13 - a baby still just like his friends. A feeling of disappointment in her son sunk in her stomach but she decided to allow him to go. She placed her hands on the windowsill in the living room and eyed the house across the street in an entirely new light.

She grabbed the telephone receiver as a fresh, fall breeze hit her face from open window.

"Hello. Yes, I'll hold."


	12. Missing Detail

**A/N: There are some disagreements about Jimmy's birthday - I'm going off the episode where it's July and he says its 3 more months till his birthday so he hypnotizes his folks to get gifts.**

 **Also, sorry again for the delay. Hoping to get back to once a week .**

* * *

She slammed him against his locker, her hands gripping his arms for dear life. It was a miracle none of the teachers saw. She was going to give him whiplash – both physically and emotionally.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jimmy asked, his head reeling from the sudden change in her behavior and sudden impact with the cold metal of the locker.

"Don't pull this shit Neutron!" Her face was red from recent tears again – something he'd become accustom to.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You've ruined everything!" Her voiced raised again. Seriously where were the teachers?

"I have no idea what you _think_ I did this time, Vortex."

Her scowl soften to defeat and she released her grasp on him. "I thought you were a friend. I trusted you. But you're just as bad as them. Worse, even. At least they had the decency to go for plausible deniability."

Jimmy opened his mouth to again ask her what she was talking about but she cut him off again.

"Plausible deniability. I know you think you're smart but you have no idea how the real world works." She shoved a box into his hand, "Happy Birthday, jackass."

He blinked in shock as he watched Cindy retreat without any other words. It was the first time he'd seen her since had been called out of English class earlier that week. He was actually starting to get worried since she never missed class.

He also had no idea what she thought he did to ruin anything. He tried to trigger a brain blast with the clues she'd given him but something was missing. His eyes moved down to the box he was holding. It was wrapped, a present of some sort. Today was October 18th. It _was_ his birthday but Cindy wasn't one to get him gifts, especially not when she was clearly so angry.

What the hell would she have gotten him anyway? He quickly torn the paper off the carefully wrapped present and opened the box away from his face, half expecting the thing to explode.

Inside was a small bottle filled with a green liquid. He recognized it immediately as a rare chemical he'd given up looking for months ago. He'd mentioned in passing to her that it was difficult to find but that he needed it for research. She had remembered the details well enough to locate it? To be perfectly honest, he hadn't even thought she was really listening to him, much less so intently. He was just venting to anyone he could find.

He found himself quite touched about how much thought she must have put into the gift but that made their previous conversation all the more confusing. Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. She had not slammed him against the locker hard enough to bruise him. He placed the box carefully inside his locker before extracting his books and heading to class.

Cindy came in at the last possible second so that by the time she reached her desk the bell rang and class was started. She must have cleaned up in the bathroom because she looked to be fine now - no hint of the earlier tears.

Jimmy decided he would talk to her after class but Cindy must have anticipated that as all of her belonging were packed up before the bell released them and she was out the door before he could even open him mouth.

* * *

Her cold shoulder carried on for weeks. Jimmy had tried talking to Libby but got nothing. It was obvious that Libby knew why Cindy was mad and although she told him "his heart was in the right place," she stood by Cindy's decision to effectively cut him out of her life and wouldn't divulge any details.

Jimmy also found that Cindy was never outside her house anymore. He never saw her coming or going. There were frequently _other_ strange visitors - evidenced by the cars in front but no Cindy.

Eventually he stopped trying to talk to her at all. He was sick of her and her drama. If she was so stubborn to wallow in her own misery when there were perfectly simple solutions staring her in the face, then so be it.

He was better off without her he told himself, though even he knew that he was only saying that because he had no choice.

Instead, Jimmy threw himself into his science work, staying distinctly clear of school sanctioned actives opting to pose as an adult online in order to talk to his intellectual peers about cold, hard science. Science didn't have all of those confusing emotions that trying to fit in with friends and girls did.

Eventually, Jimmy discovered a place where he really belonged. The only problem was that he was 5 years too young to legally join. And, even if he had been 18, that would have still made him the youngest member to ever join the prestigious group – generally reserved for post-doctoral chemistry students.

At first, his mom didn't want to give her approval at all but nobody would allow him membership without explicit parental approval – and because there were annual conferences and in person projects, he would certainly have been found out for the kid that he was. In fact, he was told that it was only for his exceptional abilities that they would make an unheard of exception.

"Sweetie, you're only a kid once! There will be plenty of time have a career when you're older but you'll never be able to go back to being a kid. Are you sure there aren't any clubs with kids your age that you might want to do?"

"Mom, the kids at school don't like me very much," Jimmy had told her as she read over the letter he'd received.

Judy bore a sad expression. Bullying was a real problem and with his exceptional talent, it was no surprised that he'd ended up with a target on his back. She was sure the kids were just jealous and that her son's lack of humility simply rubbed salt in the wound. But that was normal and she wanted very much for him to have as normal an upbringing as possible.

"Kids can be cruel but I know you have friends. Carl, Sheen, that little Vortex girl across the street."

Jimmy laughed, "Cindy? HA! She can't stand me. We hang out one day and then she's out of class for 3 days, comes back and accuses me of ruining her life but won't even tell me what I did or what's changed. No offense Mom, but girls are crazy!"

Judy's demeanor instant changed, "Okay." She looked guilty but Jimmy wasn't an expert at reading facial expressions.

"Okay?"

"You can join," She raised a hand up as he started to thank him, "For now, just the online chat. But your father and I will be monitoring those chats. Those are adults you'll be communicating with and even though you may be smarter than them in some ways there are still a lot things you don't understand about being an adult yet. Now I know you think -"

"Really? Thanks!" Jimmy said.

She smiled, "You're welcome but don't thank me yet. We'll see how it goes. IF you seem to be handling it well, we can talk about the trips and the in-person projects that go along with all this. Assuming that you're doing well in school – and not just math or science but the other class that you claim don't matter. It's all important for being a well rounded individual - understood?"

At the time, he was so happy to get her approval, that he completely missed how out of character it was for her. She snapped from insisting on age appropriate relationships to instantly giving him a green light. Well, a yellow light – but still it was the furthest he'd ever gotten with this type of thing.

It was exactly what he wanted so he choose not to investigate it further – however ironically unscientific that was.

By time Thanksgiving rolled around, Jimmy couldn't believe how fortunate he'd been. Sheen had finally let go of what grudge he had left over the cheating incident which now seemed to be eons ago. Carl found himself enjoying have band friends in addition to being on of the three amigos. Jimmy still saw his friends but less than they used to and he basically stopped seeing the girls all together. He didn't mind so much, at least not consciously.

Between all the time spent pretending to be paying attention in class while actually jotting down new ideas and evenings spent locked up in his lab – on the computer or conducting experiments Jimmy had nearly forgotten the entire rough start to the year.

It wasn't until he came back to the research project that required the mysterious green chemical that he realized there were unanswered questions.

* * *

Jimmy caught her after class. It was the day before Christmas break and he knew that even though she lived right across the street, this would probably be his last chance until school returned. She stood with the bell but after weeks of him leaving her be, her level of urgency had fallen considerably. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back into her seat.

Her eyes grew wide and she turned to face him for the first time in what felt to be forever.

"Cindy."

"Jimmy?"

"I- I -"

"I'm going to be late for my next class." She moved to get up but he pulled her back again with a little more force. She looked uncomfortable. He was still bad at this.

"Cindy - I um never thanked you."

"For what?"

"The birthday gift."

She scoffed softly and arched an eyebrow, "that was two months ago."

"You've been hard to get a hold of."

"Yeah and whose fault is that?"

"I don't know why you think it's my fault."

Cindy sighed and her eyes anxiously darted to the clock. A precious minute of passing period was gone and the teacher was now looking at the two of them sitting alone in the room.

She stood up and grabbed her bag. Jimmy joined her as she walked out the room.

"Well?" He asked expectantly.

"You called the cops on my family. How could you not get that that'd piss me off?"

"I didn't-"

"I'm not an idiot!" She whispered with force as they made their way through the crowded hallway, "My folks blamed me. They were livid - it was a huge embarrassment. I had to go live with my grandma for a few weeks. They searched our house. They're still poking their noses around."

"I didn't," he said again.

"Then who did?" She stopped, feet away from her next class with less than a minute left before class.

"It wasn't me. Maybe someone else-"

"Nobody else knew."

"Oh come on - Libby -"

"I told her everything _after_ you spilled the beans."

"After?"

"Yes."

"But she's your best friend. You told me stuff you didn't even tell her -"

"Yeah and you promised to keep it secret and then call the cops. Get why I'm not talking to you?" Her arms folded and she looked at him for a few seconds.

"I swear I didn't -"

"Then you told someone who did! I fail to see a difference." And with that she turned into the classroom at the bell sounded.

Jimmy was late to second period. As he made his way to class in the empty hall, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Brain blast!" It all made sense now.


	13. Break

**A/N : Ugh I'm so sorry about the delay I really did not enjoy writing this chapter. I have the next one mostly done but this one took fucking forever and it had to come first. Anyway, TW for stuff but at this point, duh? There is a good chance I will re-do this one later.**

* * *

Jimmy debated how to bring the issue up with his mother. He asked Goddard to run options but his social predictive programming wasn't always helpful. Broaching the subject with his mom would lead to a lecture. Trying Cindy again would lead to Cindy being herself. It seemed to be a no win situation.

More on the forefront of his mind was a convention three towns over where scientists from around the country would be celebrating that year's new advancements in technology and research. He was super excited to get the approval to go with the embarrassing contingency that his Dad came along. Despite her meddling, Jimmy would have much preferred the company of his mother in such a crowd.

The event ended late on the 23rdand Jimmy and Hugh would travel back the following day. Judy had too much to do around the house to prepare for to go. Secretly, she was thankful for the empty house leading up to big day.  
Against his better judgment, Jimmy bit his tongue with his mom. The lecture he'd get for trying to reason with her could wait until he came back. Besides, it's not like anything big could happen between now and then he reasoned. But like so many of his assumptions, this one was wrong.

Of course, the holidays were always a stressful time for the unhappy family across the street. This year was no exception. From her room, Cindy watched as the first snow feel down, gently blanketing the sleepy town. Tasteful, elegant lights were strung up around the outside of the house.

Her mom's family would come over the day before Christmas Eve and her dad's family on the 24th. The three of them would 'celebrate' on the day of by themselves. They had been doing this for thirteen years. She could not remember a time where they were still on speaking terms by the end of the third day.

Cindy's eyes moved reluctantly from the view outside to the mirror she stood in front of. She could hardly recognize the girl staring back at her. Her golden hair was perfectly curled. The dress she wore was red, sparkly and uncomfortable but as her mom insisted it made her look 'just darling.' Anything to distract from all the unsightly things surrounding her lately.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips and she found herself looking back across the street one last time before turning back to adjust her dress once more and put in earrings. The door creaked open behind her.

"Just a minute, Mom," Cindy said impatiently. She her a low laughing come from behind her.

"Mr. Jones?" She asked.

Downstairs, jovial Christmas music played. It was loud enough to mask the sounds of Mrs. Vortex's sisters chattering and the clinking of plates as an already inebriated Mr. Vortex set the table. Children eagerly eyed the large, quality pine tree the was displayed prominently in the living room. Classy, golden lights and identical red ball ornaments were peppered around the tree with precision. Impressive, professionally wrapped boxes were arranged by addressee.  
The pristine house could have been featured in a catalog. It made everything feel cozy and mockingly festive.

"Cindy!" He said as a strong scent of the alcohol wafted across the room. He sauntered over to the girl and placed a hearty slap on her back.

"Umm what are you-?"

Her question was cut off short by the man's hungry mouth over hers, his hand squeezing her size tightly, pulling her in.

For a few seconds, Cindy stood pressed up against him frozen, her mind unsure of how to process what he was doing. He tasted like the awful eggnog that her family made every year. And for a moment she went through the mental calculations to figure out who's husband's brother Mr. Jones was that had gotten him invited to such an event to big with.

His hands moved up to her chest and something snapped in her mind. This needed to stop, now. She used her hands to force some leverage between them and bit down on his tongue hard, pushing him back slightly.

"Come on, Cindy," he slurred, "it'll be our little secret." His hands were finding his way to her again.

"No!" She gasped at him, making efforts not to raise her voice. Her mind was rushing back to her mom's words. Appearances, appearances.

"Might as well, right? We're already in trouble." He closed the door behind them.

"Stop it! You're – you-"

Mr. Jones pushed her on the bed as she swiftly kicked up.

Everything else from down stairs went quiet in Cindy's mind. She couldn't hear the music. She couldn't hear the kids laughing. She couldn't hear her mom calling for her and she certainly didn't hear the sound of her the vase breaking as it felt of her dresser or the soft thud the door made as it swang open.

"Cynthia Aurora Vortex! What on God's earth is happening here?"

Her eyes grew wide at the sound of her father's voice bellowing into the room. Cindy recoiled as she anticipated what might come next. She'd seen that look on her dad's face before and braced herself for what was coming.

But she felt no pain at the sound of the long, floor length mirror cracking into dozens of pieces as he pushed Alex into it.

She felt nothing at all as everyone hurried up to her room. Voices over voices, murmuring, drunken voices. The older kids were ushering the little kids back to the living room and there she stood – smack dab in the middle like always, an ironic upbeat tune blasting through the house as everyone scurried home.

Before she knew it, it was dark and she found herself sitting in the Neutrons' kitchen, decorating cookies as Judy looked at her sympathetically.

"That's a very pretty dress."

"I hate it," Cindy spat back, instantly feeling bad as she saw Mrs. Neutron's smile fade. She was excepting something on manners but she supposed her mom explained why she was asking for a last minute baby sitter or perhaps Mrs. Neutron had seen enough of the commotion go down to know to feel bad.

The two girls sat in the kitchen, frosting in silence for several minutes before Cindy spoke again.

"Where's Jimmy?"

"He's at a science fair with his father."

"On Christmas?"

"They'll back tomorrow. Gives me time to prepare for tomorrow night," Judy mused as she pictured her husband devouring all the cookies they worked hard on.

Cindy looked up from the cookies she was frosting and took in the Neutron's house. Their holiday decor was less impressive than her house's but it felt a lot more inviting. Pictures of Jimmy with his parents were on all he walls. The tree was full of eclectic ornaments and in the corner was a large duck dressed as Santa Clause.

"I'm sorry. I'm probably in your way."

"Non-sense. You've got an eye for cookie decorating."

"I'm sorry I was rude too," Cindy said softly.

"That's alright dear. It's been a tough night, huh?"

"They're not bad people."

"I'm sorry?"

"My parents. It looks bad but they're not bad people. They didn't do anything wrong. It was … it was the rest of my family that caused the fight. It's not his fault."

"It's okay, Cindy, I don't think your parents are bad people."

"Jimmy does."

"What?"

"He called the cops on them. Because he thinks… it's not what it looks like you know?"

Judy stopped put down the cookie she was frosting and let out a deep sigh. "It wasn't to get them in trouble."

Cindy looked up at her, surprised.

"I called them, sweetheart."

"What?!"

"I heard you and Jimmy talking about how your arm got hurt and also what happened with your eye. Now I'm sorry if there was a wrong assumption made and I know it's scary but whoever is hurting you is not your friend."

"You have no idea! Why didn't you ask me? I-I would have told you they weren't bad people."

Judy walked over to sit on the stool next to Cindy's and placed an arm on her back. "I do know. When I was your age, I had an Uncle Billy. If anybody would have asked me to say something against him, I would have defended him up and down. But what I didn't know. . ."

Cindy sat quietly at the table as Mrs. Neutron explained how her family had dealt with its own black sheep. It was just one, compared to the flock she felt she was living with but there was someone right in front of her who had even the tiniest idea of what she was going through. When it came time for her mom to pick her up, she surprised her by giving Judy a big hug.

When school started back up for the spring semester, Jimmy found himself perplexed by the fact that Cindy seemed to have forgotten that they were fighting all together.


	14. Name Calling

**A/N: So I kinda fell off the face of the planet sorry :/. I know this chapter is short but I have had it a while. I may update and add to it but I wanted to at least get it out there. I promise I will finish the story. It's getting close to the planned ending anyway. Thanks all for reading. :)**

* * *

The school year was over half way over the next time she willingly talk to him about something with more substance than schoolwork. It was the week after Valentine's Day. He had been too chicken to give her anything for the holiday now that students weren't obliged to hand out cards to everyone in class.

It was warm enough to be raining but barely. He saw her standing behind the tree in front of his house, lost deep in thought as she watched the house across the street. It was her house, of course, but she looked like someone peeping at something they shouldn't. It was much too cold to have no coat on but there she stood.

When she saw him she reflectively used his nickname, "Nerdton."

"Vortex," He said, maintaining carefully calculated aloofness as he approached her, "what are you doing?"

"Ugh. Don't call me that."

"Oh come on, at least I said your real last name instead of some childish bastardization."

"It's not my name."

"Um… yes it is."

"Not anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're getting divorced," she explained, finally taking her eyes off of her house and looking at the boy in front of her.

"Oh," he said dumbly. This should have been obvious to him.

"She's making me change my name because she knows it hurts him…."

"That's shitty."

"It is."

"Aren't you cold?" By now the rain had weighed down her ponytail so that it hung low on her shoulders. Her inadequate clothes clung to her body having already absorbed their fill of water.

"No," she lied, as her breath steamed in front of her face. The goose bumps on her clenched arms said different. Stubborn as always, she was. Jimmy let out a sigh as he looked her over.

"Where's your coat?"

"Inside."

"Want to come inside then…?"

"Don't want to be inside."

"I meant my lab."

"I know what you meant. I just . . . don't want to come inside."

"Why?"

She just stared at him, blinking a bit before turning her attention back to the house. A truck pulled into Cindy's driveway. It was definitely a moving truck.

"Are you moving?" Jimmy asked. He really hoped she'd say no.

"No."

"Well, that's good."

"Wonderful," she said bitterly.

"I mean. I'd kind of miss seeing you. A little . . . "

"Careful now," she scoffed, "I might think you consider me a friend or something."

"We _are_ friends."

"I know." Jimmy didn't have a response to that. But, he also wasn't ready to leave her. Cindy felt a weight fall on her shoulders. It was a jacket, still warm from his body.

"I – I said I wasn't cold," she offered, now facing him again. It was the first time she had to look up at him to make eye contact. He must have grown again without her noticing.

"You were lying." Cindy considered protesting but she really didn't want to give up the warmth. She put her arms through the slightly too long sleeves.

"… thanks, Jimmy."

The two sat in silence as a man Jimmy recognized as exit Cindy's house. Her Dad got out of the driver's seat to greet him. The greeting was clearly strained. Over what felt like hours, the two men loaded several boxes into the truck. Cindy's mom made no appearance. Her dad got back in the truck and started the engine before driving off. The other man went back inside. Jimmy thought better than to ask for details about what they were watching. It was clear by Cindy's focused expression that she completely understood the exchange that was happening in front of them.

The last glimmers of sunlight faded behind the horizon before either of them spoke again.

"It's dark," Jimmy said.

"I have eyes." He sighed. She was going to make this difficult.

"It's cold."

"You know, I'm starting understand why they call you a genius."

"Cindy, how late are you going to stay out here?" He asked, cutting to the chase.

She looked at him, brows furrowed as she decided how much information to give him, " I haven't decided yet."

"You have to go home sometime." It came out harsher than he'd intended.

"As it turns out, I don't." Her eyes were fixed on her house again.

"They'll noticed if you don't come home." _You're trying to help her not start a fight_ He said to himself.

"I told my mom I was staying with Libby and my Dad's preoccupied."

"I thought Libby's family was going on a trip all weekend." _Just use logic. Outwit her, it's not hard._

"They are."

"Cindy, you are not staying out here all night."

"Why not? Nobody's stopping me."

"I'm stopping you!" He said, pulling his arms back and clenching both fists. His jaw clenched as his head hovered over hers, her back arching away from him. She instinctively jumped at his raised voice and a sensation of guilt flooded him.

He got ready for an argument to break out but instead she just gave a weak "okay."

He made an effort to catch her as she fell down the tube into the lab. The two shared a meaningful look as he gently placed her feet on the ground. His hand lingered on the small of her back longer than necessary.

"You're smaller than me," he noted.

"Have you considered detective work?" She quipped.

He gave her an irritated look but truthfully he was glad to have defensive Cindy over timid Cindy. He press on, "Clever. But my point is, you're all wet."

Taking it immediately to the wrong place, she turned red, balled up her fists and shouted "No I'm not!"

"We just spent an hour and a half in the rain, Cindy. Just… just let me take care of you, okay?" He rubbed a palm over his exasperated expression.

She said nothing, the blush on her facing growing subtly as he walked out of sight.

When he returned he was carrying a pair of sweatpants and tee-shirt. "Let's get you out of those clothes."

"Um, what?!" She asked, again missing his intent. Fortunately for her, he was as oblivious to her obliviousness as she had been oblivious in the first place.

"Just put these on. I know they aren't designer but it's just us and you're beautiful no matter what you wear." The last part came out unexpectedly but he was so tired of their song and dance at this point that he didn't bother to try and correct it. It _was_ just them and she _was_ beautiful.

Cindy simply took the clothes from him with a giddy smile. He let her change behind one of the many screens he had set up in the lab for various purposes.

"How do I look?" She asked him striking a fashion pose in what, on her, was an oversize t-shirt and loose sweats. They both laughed but Jimmy found it difficult to take his eyes off her. Something about her in one of his t-shirts made him feel strangely possessive. "Think I could pass for you?"

"You're a poor excuse for a teenage boy," he noted.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"Come on, let's watch a festive movie," he stated, patting the seat next to him on the couch.

"You want to watch a romantic movie?" She asked tentatively. Valentine's Day had just passed, after all.

"Horror," he corrected, trying to keep his face straight. It must have been the right thing to say as they both bust in fits of nice, childish laughter. She curled up next to him as the movie started.

To her surprise, it really was a horror film. There were a lot inaccuracies and plot holes but Jimmy purposely held his tongue at them. It was still entertaining enough and besides, he was far more focused on the girl in his arms.

She had slid into his embrace without his noticing, fitting perfectly against him. But as soon as he had realized their position, he couldn't _stop_ noticing. He sat there, frozen in place, afraid that any sort of movement would break the spell between the pair.

She was still cold to the touch and her hair was still damp at the ends, though the rest of it had dried into soft golden tufts of hair that fell on her shoulders and spilled over to his. Her knees were brought to her chest and had slid into his lap so that she was practically on top of him. His arm draped across her, securing her to him, his finger tips barely grazing her arm. He kept carefully glancing at her and back to the screen. She didn't seem to notice. Occasionally she burrowed into his arms, looking for more warmth.

Before he knew it, the credits were rolling and it was late. His eyes had barely left her but when he looked back, he was surprised to see her looking back at him this time.

"Umm.." he said, but his mouth was dry and barely any sound came out. He cleared his throat and swallowed, "it's late." She moved away from him and he found the spot where she'd been now feeling quite empty.

"Wait. You – you can stay," he said and she cocked her head to the side, confused."It's cold out. If you aren't going home, I'd rather you sleep here."

She nodded as he made his way to the door. He was almost out when she spoke again.

"Don't go." Her voice was small and full of uncertainty. He gulped.

"What?"

"Don't go. I … I don't want to be alone. Stay with me?" The only light came from the T.V. displaying the movie menu. But that was enough to illuminate her pink cheeks and nervous smile as she twisted the ends of her hair.

He found himself speaking without thinking, "of course. I'll just tell my mom I'm pulling another all-nighter. I stay down here a lot."


	15. Throwback

**A/N: Holy crap! I just saw through a google search that somebody plugged this story on FB back in October. I feel special. Anyway, here is chapter 15. Thanks for all the reviewers and subscribers. I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Cindy waited for him on the couch. Her eyes darted around the lab, taking in the newest creations that were placed about. She eyed the computer and desk carefully, noting that, at the very least, there were no _visible_ photos of Betty out today.

When she heard him making his way back to the lab, something that hadn't occurred to her now became glaringly obvious: they were about to spend the night together. Sure it was in the most innocent sense of the phrase but if her heart weren't already about to fall out of her chest, she was sure that it was now.

Jimmy, for his part, made every effort not to make things anymore awkward by casually suggesting another movie to buy time before the bedtime arrangements.

Cindy glanced at the clock, noting that was just past 10:00pm. She nodded and Jimmy put in another horror film. The two sat in silence for the first 30 minutes of the film, both shifting uncomfortably every few minutes.

Making every attempt not to make any loud noises, Jimmy reach for a lever on the side of the couch, clicking it smoothly into place, causing the couch beneath them to extend out into a futon with a loud pop, flinging their unsuspectingly legs into the air before serving as a cushion for their landing.

Cindy shrieked at the sudden movement and clenched her chest. The move was poorly timed to match the first murder on screen.

He was not about to pass up the opportunity to tease her. "Awww is somebody scared?"

"I-I'm not s-cared. You just startled me!"

"Ha!" he said, playfully poking her in the side. She swatted his hand away.

"Stop that!"

"Then admit it. You got scared."

"I will admit no such thing," she crossed her arms and pouted, which he found undeniably endearing.

Emboldened in the moment, his hand snaked across her waist and began tickling her side. She giggled helplessly at the touch, wriggling around and pressing herself against him as she tried to gain traction.

When he finally released her, both of their faces were beat red from laughing. Her chest heaved in and out as she tried to catch her breath and found that she was now basically sitting in his lap. She quickly moved away to put some distance between them but the small converted couch made it challenging.

"You were total scared," he said, egging her on again but before she could retaliate he was off the futon and in the lab's kitchen, "Are you hungry?"

"Want me to pause the movie?" Cindy asked. Jimmy stop for a moment before remembering that they had been watching a movie in the first place.

"No, I've seen it before. Cheese puffs, popcorn or cookies?" He called out from the cupboards.

"Why choose?" she called back. He laughed and collected the snacks.

As he watched her greedily devour the food, he realized that they had both skipped dinner.

"Vox, please prepare a pizza. Cindy, what kind of toppings to you like?"

She paused for a moment to contemplate it before stating, "anything but mushrooms." And stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"Vox, supreme no mushrooms!"

The pizza was ready way faster than any edible pizza should be but Cindy didn't question the tasty offering in front of her as the two ate silently for a few minutes.

Cindy grabbed another handful of cheesy puffs, polishing them off quickly and licking the cheesy powder off her fingers. "You know, this kind of feel like the sleep over I used to have as a kid."

"We're still kids," he replied.

"We're teenagers," she corrected and Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"I mean technically, I guess we are," he said.

Cindy shrugged, "my point is that this is nice."

"Actually, considering that nobody has had a prank pulled on them and nothing has blown up, this is actually nicer than most sleep overs I've had."

Cindy rolled her eyes as a judgmental "boys…" escaped her lips.

"Pretty sure the stuff blowing up in the lab was specific to our group. Not that that makes me look any better…" he chuckled.

"At least it kept things interesting, I guess."

"It did." A natural stopping point to the conversation found the two sitting on the bed staring at each other in silence. Cindy felt herself getting brave enough to make a move but her confidence was quickly crushed by her oblivious companion.

"So, not to pry," Jimmy said softly and Cindy felt her heart fall as she knew where the conversation was turning, "But what are you going to do tomorrow?"

Cindy let out a sigh of relief as his line of questioning was much less intrusive than she had anticipated. "I'll go home obviously. Can't stay away forever."

"Oh but will things be okay? I mean with your mom's drink-"

Cindy shook her head, "it's not that bad," she flung up a hand to stop his protests, "besides with all the lawyers and court appearances and custody battles she's been advised to not partake for the time being. Both of them have kept their act squeaky clean during the proceedings."

"I thought you said it was all sorted out?"

"It'll never been all sorted out. Pretty sure I'll be 18 and they'll still be 'sorting it out.'"

"So … you might actually have to move?"

"Unlikely. Moms usually get custody and my dad's not really even fighting. He doesn't want me that badly."

"I'm sure that's not true. He loves you. I mean, he's your dad."

"I never said he didn't love me. Hell, he still loves my mom. The whole thing's a mess."

Jimmy gave her a quizzical look, "I just don't get it."

"You wouldn't."

"I mean, I'm trying to get it I just…"

"No, you mistook what I meant. Not getting it is a good thing. Look, it's complicated. Do you remember over the summer when I went away for a while?"

"And you mysteriously broke your arm and I was worried sick for like 3 months? Yeah, hard to forget." Cindy couldn't stop herself from smiling at that last part. She look up at him directly for the first time since tickle fight. She pursed her lips subconsciously as she found herself acutely aware of the lack of distance between the two.

The futon couch made a comfortable enough bed for one. Jimmy had indeed spent many a night in the lab pulling all-nighters. But with his recent growth spurt and even more recent companion, the space was clearly limited. Even with her legs pulled toward her, they spilled over his. Each point of contact was especially sensitive. Her hands crept dangerously close to his.

She found words difficult to come by as her face grew more and more flush in the moment.

"Well?" he said leaning in, eager to finally find out what had happened during the summer.

"Right," she whispered, mirroring his move.

Instead of accessing the memories from June, she found herself unwilling traveling back to Christmas. The force of Mr. Jones's lips on hers. The taste of alcohol on his lips. The site of the mirror crashing with her father's forceful push. There was actually a tiny stain on her carpet from where Mr. Jones had been cut. It was faint and covered by a replacement mirror, an elaborate and expensive piece bought out of the collective guilt of her parents. He wasn't her first kiss – that honor actually belonged to the friend so close and yet so far away from her now. Not her first - so why did it cut so deep?

The answer played in her head over and over: it was her most recent kiss. Gross. Dirty. Awful. It represented all the things that had changed for the worse of the years. A pinnacle of dysfunction and abuse in one shinning moment of drunken slobber.

Before, Cindy had felt violated and sad but now anger bubbled underneath her. She came plummeting back into moment with a fire beneath her as the sheer gravity of everything that had happened came crashing against the backdrop of her reality. She had two options at this point.

She needed to get away from this moment, away from the unwanted kiss. To get out of that room to be anyway where else. She needed to shove Jimmy away both literally and metaphorically. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to do it. It was either that or do something else. Anything else but focus on the painful memories.

She chose the latter, lurching forward and ungracefully closing the distance between them. Her lips were soft but came with quite some force and Jimmy found himself struggling to remember the conversation that had lead him here. It was a shame because he knew he'd want to recreate it in the future.

The two had never kissed like this. Cindy swung her leg the rest of the way over him so that she was straddling him. She placed her hands on the couch beneath them for support, pressing their bodies together. There was nothing shy or uncertain about this approach, unlike how she'd been with him before. Nothing that could be hand waved away as accidental or halfhearted. All pretenses dropped.

The sensation hit the boy like a ton of bricks. The nerves in his stomach flopped around and his heart pounded against his chest with such gusto, it almost hurt. He felt himself go slightly lightheaded, the rush of the girl above him so intense that for the first time in his life, he couldn't think through his actions but instead had to feel through them.

He did his best to reciprocate but he found that keeping up was a challenge. When she finally surfaced for air he found his breathing so ragged that he couldn't speak and ask her what had come over her. He moved his hand to the small of her back, his fingers working their way underneath the shirt she'd borrowed to get to the delicate skin beneath. Apparently this was encouragement enough as she resume their kiss, more gently this time.

Although it was impossible to get any closer, he still pressed on her back to increase the pressure against him, humming softly as she continued. Years of built-up tension seemed to melt away. Despite any real experience from either party, they fit together perfectly. After nearly a half hour, they finally broke apart for good, their faces still inches apart and her body still on top of his. Their chests fell and cashed in unison as they struggled to catch their breath.

"That was…" Jimmy said, finally breaking the silence.

Cindy felt suddenly self-conscious and opened her mouth to apologize, guilt flooding her as she questioned whether she had just done to him what Mr. Jones had to her. Sensing this, he pulled on the loose shirt she wore and closed her mouth with his just long enough to quiet down any insecurities. After that neither of them spoke as she snuggled against him. His legs wrapped around her as he spooned her, the only way the two could possibly both sleep on the futon at the same time.

When he woke-up, she was gone.


	16. Morning Sickness

**A/N: Felt inspired to write two days in a row. By the way, shout-out to the recent reviewers, I hear your suggestions. Here is a little bit of Libby who hasn't gotten much spot light in this story yet.**

* * *

Libby sat in the backseat of her parents' car, arm propped on the door and nose practically pressed against the window as she watched the scenery pass by. Her brother sat next to her, his eyes glued to his handheld game, headphones in his ears tuning out the radio with repetitive game music and gunfire as his fingers feverishly mashed the buttons. Mr. and Mrs. Folfax sat in the front enjoying the rare quiet of their children, the soothing sounds of jazz and methodic windshield wipers creating a Zen atmosphere.

Libby's hand reached absent-mindedly to her ear when her mom spoke up.

"Don't play with it. It will get infected," she said sternly, drawing Libby out of her trance. Her hand shot back down.

"Sorry…" Libby's eyes focused on her faint refection in the window, a huge smile spreading across her lips as she looked at the reflection of the cartilage piercing. It was going to look amazing when the swelling reduced and the darn itching stopped. Libby moved her hands to under her thighs to prevent her from scratching without thinking again. Both her parents had been reluctant to allow the piercing but it was of the few fashion requests that she made year in and year out. She didn't want her mom to regret her permission.

"When you are a teenager _,"_ they had insisted repeatedly, buying them time to convince their daughter that two earrings were enough earrings until the day came that she turned thirteen and they reluctantly kept good on their promise.

Libby swelled with pride when she was taken to the local tattoo parlor the night before. Even though it was the least scandalous of things to get done, she felt incredibly mature just sitting in the lobby. After the procedure was done, her mom even admitted that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Libby decided against admitting that the first one hurt so bad she almost asked them not to do the second ear lest she be denied a navel ring for her 16th birthday. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and felt a spark of excitement which quickly died when she opened the message.

 _Cindy: Hey. Major news to talk about ASAP. It involves Nerdtron._

Libby rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh. It _always_ involved Jimmy and the news was _always_ more important that hers. Not even a single compliment on the picture of her piercing, which was still visible in the conversation, just one text bubble above Cindy's announcement. Libby started to type out one reply after another before quickly spamming the backspace key and reconsidering. She shoved the phone back into her pocket angrily. Cindy's 'major news' about how Jimmy had said some off-handed comment could wait. After all, Libby always had to wait. She folded her arms, the Zen feeling decidedly killed. She wanted to arrive at her aunt's immediately so she could show off her new earring to her cousins.

Her pocket buzzed again but she ignored it. Then, it buzzed a third time and a forth. Five minutes later, Libby began chewing her lip anxiously. It was the longest she'd ever ignored a text. She pulled out the phone and scrolled to Cindy's messages. She could read them without replying. Or so she thought.

 _Cindy: We kissed._

 _Cindy: Like, kiss-kissed._

 _Cindy: I'm freaking out. I left while he was still sleeping._

And there is was. Gossip juicy enough to destroy Libby's resolve.

 _Libby: YOU SPENT THE NIGHT?!_

 _Cindy: yes but not like that._

 _Libby: ? Dets. Now._

Libby lived for this kind of information. She found herself feeling butterflies in her stomach. Vicarious butterflies. If only Cindy were as interested in Libby's life as she was in hers. It was a mix of excitement, jealously and resentment that flooded her. Cindy was her best friend but admittedly sometimes a crappy friend. And Libby always thought that Cindy's snotty attitude would get in the way of her finding a boyfriend first. Apparently not. Many of the guys at school had a crush on Little Miss. Perfect especially after she started donning that stupid cheerleading costume. But most of those crushes faded fast after they had a conversation with Cindy.

Libby was cute, fun and talented but most importantly she was nice and considerate, two traits her friend sorely lacked _._ If Cindy not only got a boyfriend but lost her v-card before her, even if it was with Jimmy of all people, well, well then life was just way too unfair. Then again, Jimmy was kind of a jerk too. Libby recalled Sheen's wounded ego after the chess incident. But just like with Cindy any transgressions were forgiven quickly. After all, might as well call him Little Mr. Perfect. They were perfect for each other. Her annoyance grew as Cindy failed to respond.

 _Libby: ?!_

 _Cindy: It's a lot. Can you call me?_

Of course. Cindy knew she was with family but she was just supposed to step out of the room and have a damn phone call. Libby started to explain this but found an opening and carefully deleted her reply before typing a new one. If Cindy could make anything about her, why couldn't Libby do the same?

 _Libby: Can't. It hurts to put the phone to my ear._

 _Cindy: What? Why?_

 _Libby: New piercing. Mom finally let me get it done!_

 _Cindy: Really?_

 _Libby: Yes really. I sent you a pic dummy!_

There were a few minutes of radio silence as Cindy no doubt scrolled up the conversation to see the picture. Libby's teeth were clenched at this point. Salt in the wound. Cindy hadn't even looked at her message and probably would have ignored it altogether if not for needing an ear to talk off. In fact, Libby wondered if it even mattered whose ear Cindy had, as long as she had an audience. Maybe the reason Cindy chose her as a best friend was because she had just the right combo of backbone and doormat to deal with Cindy. Not because you know, she gave a damn about Libby. Libby made the perfect sidekick, the perfect second fiddle. It's not like Cindy had a lot of other friends.

Sure, Cindy and Brittany got along but then again Brittany was another pretty blonde and Cindy didn't share the stage well. Libby had different enough looks and talents so that the two were rarely in direct competition. And it had become clearer and clearer, boys liked nice girls who didn't emasculate them and then laugh at their tears. Except Jimmy but probably only because his ego was so large it could take daily beatings. Brittany had more date offers than she could respond to. It had drove a recent wedge between the two blondes. Finally, Libby's phone buzzed.

 _Cindy: OMG so cute!_

 _Libby: thx. G2g. we're at my Aunt's. But I expect details ASAP!_

Libby sat in the car, quickly sending the piercing photo to Brittany and a few others. It'd be another half hour until she arrive at Aunt Kelly's.

* * *

Jimmy rubbed his eyes as he woke up. His body was a little sore from the previous night's arrangements. His arm patted the space that Cindy had left and he wondered if it had been a dream until he found a few stray blonde hairs laying on the blanket next to him.

"Cindy?" He called out but there was no response. He looked around cautiously before carefully taking a pair of tweezers and extracting the hairs from the blanket to place them in a vial. The creepiness of his actions did not elude him. He even felt a little dirty doing it. But willing hair samples of a variety of individuals were hard to come by. She'd apparently jumped ship though so it's not like she'd know what he did. He carefully mislabeled the vial "CV synthetic thread" in case she were to later come across it. Though, his thoughts fell back to the night before. Would she come back to the lab? Why did she leave so early without even saying goodbye? Had he done something wrong? She had been the aggressor, so surely she didn't feel that he pushed too far.

All in all, the night had went exponentially better than he could have imagined. He felt a shiver run down his spine even replaying the events of last night in his mind. He didn't know he was even capable of feeling the things he did and much less that Cindy could be so passionate. Passionately angry, yes. Passionately competitive, yes. But passionate kissing? It was a pleasant surprise.

Jimmy's head reeled faster and faster as he woke-up more and began processing the significance of their encounter. Somehow, Cindy would blame him for this, he just knew it. He had to think of a way to turn this around and make it a positive. Just so school wasn't so awkward. It's not like he needed or event wanted a girlfriend right? His only mistress was knowledge

He didn't need girls. The only thing he NEEDED was science and lab to practice it. But IF he ever wanted a girl, Cindy would be a logically superior choice. As much as he hated to admit it, despite her scathing words and difficult attitude she was the only _person_ in the school and frankly the whole town that could even follow half of what he said. Cindy was smart. Really smart. In fact, probably an outlier in intelligence, he reasoned. Sure, she was nowhere near his level but then again neither were most living people on the planet. The fact that someone so smart would be a girl his age who happened to live across the street was remarkably convenient

And she was pretty. Leaping leptons, she was pretty. She was so pretty it was a distraction that got in the way of his science. Her hair was a delightful flaxen color and it was always so shiny. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she got an answer right or received any kind of praise. Her smile was simply captivating, especially on the rare occasion that it was genuine joy and not triumphant glee. The look on her face when she was caught off guard was enchanting, especially the noticeable rosy blush that filled her translucent cheeks. He loved forcing that blush on her face and luring out a rare smile or melodious giggle. By Darwin, she even smelled bewitching, as though someone created her simply to put him in a hypnotic trance.

"What in any of Everett's infinite worlds is wrong with me?" he said out loud, mentally reading his poetic thoughts back to himself. "All of this for someone who didn't even bother to say goodbye. I need to develop a cure for this sickness! To the -" He looked around the lab and lamely said, "to here, I guess?"

Godard whined in the background, catching Jimmy's attention.

"What is it boy?"

A mechanical arm pointed to a neatly folded scrap of paper sitting on the keyboard of the main computer.


	17. To the Point

**A/N: I am sorry - don't know how I let a month slip past me. Here is Chapter 17.**

* * *

Cindy stepped into her living room just as the sun was rising. The golden rays washed the couches, T.V. and bookshelves in a nostalgic glow and for one glorious eternal second, Cindy felt herself travel back to a time when this was really home.

Upstairs her mother snored softly. She wasn't sure how long she stood there motionless before texting Libby. But as soon as her fingers began pressing the buttons on her phone, time began to rush by to catch up to the present and by the time she looked up, it was bright outside and the house was a prison again and her stomach was growling and Libby was not responding.

Cindy moved to the kitchen to get some breakfast, each move she made peeled back a layer of the façade. Her father's coffee cup was missing from the line-up. His favorite beers were not stocked in the fridge next to the milk. Even the family photo that hung in the kitchen was replaced by one of just her instead of the three of them. With surgical precision, her father had extracted himself from the home. Part of her wished he had trashed the place instead because fighting was caring.

As she sat down to a bowl of bran flakes and skim milk, she found herself wishing she had never left the glorified fort across the street where all that mattered was adventure, discovery and make believe. Last year she was in a whacky kid's comedy. Last night she was in a trashy romance novel. This morning she was in tragic drama meant to mimic the quiet depression people lived with. A bastardization of the same characters with a darker plot. Edgy. She was sick of whoever was writing this tale.

There was so much to explain: things that no one would fully understand. She supposed it was a product of growing up. Now, her friends and loved ones each had a fraction of her heart. Better than putting all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your emotional investments. Buy low and never sell because they will never ever never be a buyer you can trust.

So nobody knew everything and she wondered if she had passed the point when someone even could. Nobody knew everything - not Libby, not Jimmy, not her Mom, not her Dad, not her teachers or the preacher – maybe not even herself. From the outside each person had their ideas, like she did about them, the fragments they exchanged and the tinted frames through which they were viewed.

Her Dad didn't really see her Mom, not like Cindy did. He didn't hear her cry softly in the bathroom. He didn't see her face harden and her heart dissolve when he put her down. He didn't see her hands shake with a glass of wine in one and an old love letter of his in the other while she told Cindy how one day she could hope to find someone as sweet.

And her mom didn't see the way Cindy squirmed around Mr. Jones because all she saw was the paltry offering of flattery that he used to curry her favor while all Cindy saw was the disgusting way he eyed her, not his boyish charm or twisted dreams because to her, he was an adult but underneath she'd never know. Why her – what was he chasing? How long would that look be seared into her brain?

And Jimmy couldn't see - not even if she tried to explain to him - the sheer pain in her Dad's eyes when his car hit the pole and spun around and he realized that he didn't have control – not of the car and not of himself. Cindy herself would never really understand the guilt that he felt – his own vices and fists may as well have been the dashboard that she crushed her arm against, the guilt swayed permission to sit up front and the childish invincibility that kept her seatbelt unclicked.

Nobody would understand so that's why they had to go a way for a summer. That's why they locked her up in that hotel room. She was their pride, their shame, their pawn and their prize. But she couldn't keep them together. She wondered how long until her mother's tired eyes and bitter wrinkles and vindictive toxicity would be her own. Maybe she could walk away from that inheritance.

* * *

The piece of scrap paper had one simple thing written on it:

"Need to get home before Mom wakes up. Didn't want to wake you."

It was frustratingly short and offered just enough. There was no sign that she was even going to acknowledge what had happened between them let alone continue it.

Jimmy looked outside at the quiet house across the street. When he first moved in, it didn't even register in his mind and now he couldn't not see it even if he tried.

He let out a sigh as he pushed the hormonal drama of young adolescence out of his mind. He'd see her Monday and that would be soon enough. He glanced over at the clock: it was nearly noon. He wondered how long he'd been sleeping after she left.. He supposed it didn't matter. His neck and back were sore from the contorted position he slept in.

"Goddard. Options."

Goddard's head made a squeaking sound as it tilted in confusion.

"For Cindy. How I did I figure out where I stand?"

Goddard began thinking, an ellipsis showing on his monitor. Finally, it offered the first suggestion: "Hack into Cindy's brain and see what she's thinking."

"Hmm… last time that caused us to switch bodies. Anything else?"

"Disguise yourself as Libby and ask her."

"I am NOT dressing up as a girl."

"Ask her yourself."

"Uhhh… anything less painful?"

"Go back in time and avoid meeting her altogether."

Jimmy bit his lip as he contemplated his options. It was mostly a waste of time though. He generally knew when Goddard had provided the best option; it was just never fun to take it.

* * *

Two normal but awkward days of school passed before he approached her. It was a Wednesday afternoon when he slinked up to her locker like it wasn't his first time doing this. School had just let out and the hallways were crowded with sleep deprived pre-teens scurring to after school activites.

It was off season, so Cindy was getting ready to go home rather than to some activity. She was allowed to quit her piano lessons and between the back and forth wasn't pressured to sign up for anything else. She wasn't sure if she preferred micromanaged overachiever or latch-key kid more.

"Hey Cindy," Jimmy said as smoothly as he could muster.

"Hey," she said. Her heart rate increased. It was the first time they'd spoken she basically threw herself at him. She figured he must have been done with her. That's what guys did after they got what they wanted. At least, it was according to her mom.

"Hey."

Cindy laughed, "You already said that. What's up?" She popped her hip, placed her hand. Fake confidence was part of her personality at this point. A few gossipy girls watched the exchange conspicuously from down the hall.

"So. I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Really?"

Cindy's eyebrows furrowed, "What's your question?"

"Oh. Um … erm.. well doyouwant tobe mygirlfriend?" He felt himself slide a little against the locker, catching himself before he fell.

"What? Are you okay?"

"do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?!" He was practically yelling at this point and those who weren't particularly interested before now glanced over due to the volume. Everyone's conversations died off as the excruciating moments of silence dragged on.

"Okay," she said softly, her cheeks red from embarrassment. "Yeah… I'll uhhh… yes."

Jimmy felt a little sick to his stomach as he leaned in to kiss her, the faux paus of his delivery feeding in to the frenzy of jitters he had worked himself into before coming over.

He missed the center of her mouth, kissing her just a tad too left. For her part, she pretended not to notice.

"Well, I guess I should walk you home then," he said, the pace of his voice still too fast but at least discernable.

Libby, who had been heading over to Cindy's locker had arrived just in time to see the entire thing unfold.

"CALL ME" She mouthed slowly and Cindy simply pursed her lips and broke eye contact before giggling slightly. Jimmy's hand slid awkwardly into hers as they made their way through the hall. Some of the others continued to watch. There was no outburst of laughter, no hushed whispered, no collapse.

Perhaps both children should have been smart enough and humble enough to know that the school did not live and die on the state of their relationship. But in the moment, it sure felt that way, the culmination of years of childish tension and bickering coming to an abrupt end without the impact of an expected crash, like throwing a car from drive to park without stopping first.


End file.
